Wayward Strangers
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: (Re-Uploaded since the first one didn't work) Modern AU. He's a cat person. She likes birds. When the two meet, they quickly become friends. But will an accident change that, or make their friendship even stronger?
1. Chapter 1

**This is my VERY FIRST Modern fanfic I have ever written. I already have the story planned out in my head, so any suggestions will probably not be used in this particular fanfiction. I have, however, also decided that there will be a sequel to this one once I finish this and a few other stories I have ideas for. I hope you like this. Reviews are appreciated, but don't feel pressured. There's no "I won't update unless I get XXX reviews per chapter" or anything like that. Have fun with chapter 1! :D **

She smashed into him, quite literally, on the sidewalk back to her house. A short, auburn hair boy, emerald green eyes, covered in freckles.

"Oww!" Astrid shouted, pulling back and rubbing her head. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"I'm sorry, miss," the boy apologized quickly. He was holding a guitar case in one hand, a notebook in the other, hypster-looking glasses on his face. He was wearing a simple red t-shirt with light grey sleeves, jeans, and sneakers. He had a backpack shouldered by one strap, as if he had put it on in a hurry.

"I really didn't mean to crash into you," the boy rambled on.

"Forget it, it's fine," said Astrid. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Um...my name is Hadley," the boy said.

"Hadley?" Astrid actually laughed.

The boy glared and frowned. "It's a family name," he said. "Most people call me Hiccup."

"And that's..._better_?" said Astrid.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Laugh all you want, but I'm stuck with it," he said. "What's your name?"

"Astrid," said Astrid.

"Well, sorry I totally knocked heads with you," said Hiccup. "Normally I'm not as...clumsy."

"Okay," said Astrid. "Really, it's fine." She hesitated. "I haven't seen you here before," she said. Hiccup nodded. "Are you new here, or something?" said Astrid.

"We just moved," said Hiccup. "My Mom and I, that is. We're at the house at the very end of the neighborhood." He gestured with the hand holding his notebook, and Astrid looked.

"Huh, you're right across the street from my house," said Astrid. She gestured to his guitar case. "Do you play?"

"A little," said Hiccup. "Not much, really."

"Oh," said Astrid. "Well, you should show me sometime."

"Yeah, maybe I should," Hiccup said as he readjusted his glasses.

"What about the glasses?" said Astrid.

"Excuse me?" Hiccup asked.

"Like, are they fake?" Astrid asked. "I know some people at school who wear hipster glasses just for show."

"No, Astrid, I need them to see, thank you very much," said Hiccup. "I should...um...I should probably be..." He gestured to his house. "Yeah."

"Okay," said Astrid. "And...um...if you ever want me to show you around the neighborhood sometime, I mean...I can. Maybe tomorrow, or something? Where do you go to school?"

"My Mom homeschools me," said Hiccup. "I can meet you outside my house, or something tomorrow, and you can show me around. That is, if it isn't a problem, or anything-"

"Oh, no, no problem at all," said Astrid. "Actually, if I'm completely honest, I like showing new people around this place. It's fun."

"Okay, thanks," said Hiccup. "So...I guess I'll see you tomorrow, or something? Maybe around three or four in the afternoon?"

"Yeah, I guess so," said Astrid. With that, they both went their separate ways.

...

Astrid couldn't wait to get school over with that next morning. Tomorrow was the beginning of Winter Break, and she was totally excited about it. Plus, not to mention showing Hiccup around the neighborhood. It was going to be fun.

As soon as the last day of school ended, Astrid collected her things, and then headed back to her house. She found Hiccup outside his house, sitting on the small wall surrounding his house, playing guitar, humming along with it.

Astrid ducked for cover, hoping he didn't see her. For some reason, she liked sneaking around. She listened to him play, unable to determine the song, but tapping her foot along with it without hardly thinking about it.

As soon as Hiccup finished the song, Astrid showed herself.

"That sounded really cool," she said.

Hiccup jumped and nearly dropped his instrument. "Oh, hey, Astrid," he said. "You ready for that tour now?" He got up and started to put his guitar away, when Astrid stopped him.

"Do you know 'Peppermint Winter' by Owl City?" she asked.

"Um...yeah, why?" said Hiccup.

Astrid moved over and sat down on the wall. "Can you play it?" she asked.

"Uh...yeah, sure," said Hiccup. He sat down again, repositioned the guitar in his arms, gave Astrid a smile, and started playing. Astrid listened to the music intently, smiling to herself, and then Hiccup started singing along with his guitar.

At first, Astrid was shocked, because he sounded _good_. Not too fancy, not putting too much effort fourth, just simply playing and singing, his instrument louder than his voice. He wasn't exceptionally good, but still, he wasn't _bad _at all. He continued on with the chorus of the song.

Astrid didn't know why, but when he came in with the second verse, she sang along with him. She found herself smiling subconsciously as she continued with the song. She didn't know all the words, but hiccup did. He was lead while she was backup. For some reason, she loved it.

She smiled, and Hiccup smiled back at her, his eyes still focused on his strumming. They sang the last verse and chorus together, not caring if anyone else heard them or not.

Hiccup strummed his guitar dramatically at the end of the song, and then they both broke out laughing.

"That was amazing," said Astrid. "How long have you played?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Roughly two years? I don't know," he admitted.

"You're great," said Astrid.

"Well, thanks," said Hiccup. "Do you play any instruments?"

"Does the radio count?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup laughed, stood, and put his guitar back in its case before leaning it against the wall of his house. "Ready for that tour now?"

"Ready," said Astrid.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter's a tad shorter than my last one (short a hundred words or so, give or take), but I was pleased with it wholeheartedly. :) Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: Glad you like it so far! See ya later, Sil! :D Ahhh...it's good to be off hiatus. :) **

She showed him around each and every corner, spurting off some random fact about each destination as they went. Hiccup seemed absolutely fascinated, yet spoke little. His freckles showed blatantly on his pale skin, and his black and red layered t-shirt looked out of place with his scarf.

"And this is the Thorston residence!" Astrid proudly announced, gesturing to a brick house.

"Only a few blocks away from my place," said Hiccup. "You know any of them?"

"Ruff and Tuff," said Astrid. "Strange names, I know."

"Almost as strange as Hadley," said Hiccup.

"So your name's actually Hadley?" Astrid asked, a slight smirk planted on her face. "You weren't just toying with me?"

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "Hadley."

"Hadley," Astrid repeated.

"Yeeeep," said Hiccup.

"So...like, on your birth certificate it says 'Hadley'," said Astrid.

"Just...stop talking about my name," said Hiccup.

Astrid laughed, but complied for his sake. She turned and walked on, Hiccup jogging to catch up with her. She stopped in front of a white house, looking very mad.

"This is the Jorgenson residence," said Astrid. "Scott Jorgenson lives here. That jerk."

"Um..." Hiccup coughed awkwardly and cleared his throat. "He'smycousin," he slurred, obviously trying to tell Astrid something and yet, at the same time, trying to keep it from her.

"What?" said Astrid.

"He's my cousin," said Hiccup. "And...his name isn't Scott. His name is Snotlout. He hates it, though, and calls himself Scott. Don't tell anyone I told you that, or it will be bad for both of us." He winked and laughed.

Astrid laughed right along with him, until she thought about it more. "He's your _cousin_?" she repeated.

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "Strange, I know, he's like two times my size, has three times the amount of strength as I do, but I'm also older than him by a few months. And...that's why Mom and I moved here, I guess. We kind of needed help from my Uncle, since my Dad just..." He paused and turned away.

Astrid understood almost instantly. "Hiccup..." she said, "I'm so sorry."

"I get that from everyone," said Hiccup, turning half-way so he could look at her. "I don't think I need to get it from you."

Astrid nodded, and fought to change the subject. She did so quickly. "I think we're done with the tour," she said. "Do you want to, I don't know...go back to my house?"

"Sure, I suppose," said Hiccup.

They walked back to her house and tried to think of something to do.

"Snowball fight?" Astrid offered.

Instead of answering, Hiccup scooped some snow off the ground and threw it straight at her. It turned into powder once it hit her face, and she brushed snow out of her hair and spat some out of her mouth while Hiccup laughed.

"Oh so it's going to be like that, is it?" she said. She grabbed some snow and threw it at him. The snowball shut him up once it made impact, and he tossed another one.

It went back and forth, until it turned into war. The snowballs flew across the yard in different bouts, Hiccup and Astrid laughing, being quieted each time the opposite person hit them with a snowball.

Astrid threw one at Hiccup, and it smacked him in the face. He fell backwards and moaned. At first, Astrid laughed, until she realized he wasn't trying to get up.

"Hiccup?" she hesitated. Then, she ran over to him. "Hiccup!"

"Ugh..." he moaned and squinted up at her as she knelt next to him. "Astrid...t-tell my family I loved them." Then, he fake-died.

Astrid stood up and kicked him.

"OWW!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. "Why would you do that!?"

"Get used to it," said Astrid. "Another one of those stunts..."

"Do you do that a lot?" said Hiccup.

"Yeah, that's kind of why I told you to get used to it," said Astrid.

"Well, obviously I have to!" said Hiccup, rubbing his forearm where she kicked him.

Astrid smirked and laughed. "So...Hiccup," she said. "Tell me more about yourself."

"Um...I have a cat," said Hiccup.

"What kind of cat?" said Astrid.

"Um...he's really little," said Hiccup. "My Mom got him for me at the shelter just before we moved. I named him Toothless, since he's so small his teeth haven't even grown in yet."

"Toothless?" Astrid frowned as she spoke. "What are you going to call him when he grows teeth?"

"Probably Toothless," said Hiccup. "Still Toothless. What about you? Do you have any pets?"

"I have a parrot named Stormfly," said Astrid.

"Pretty name," said Hiccup. "I like it."

"It's better than Hadley," said Astrid. As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to slap herself. That was _NOT _a good way to make friends. For a few seconds, she was afraid she had done something terrible.

Until Hiccup started laughing.

"Ooooh Astrid," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "_Anything's _better than Hadley."

They both broke out laughing, and Astrid realized that this was just the beginning of a wonderful friendship.


	3. Chapter 3

**HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU INCREDIBLY AWESOME PEOPLE! YAY! *throws streamers and balloons everywhere* It's 12:07 AM and I AM PERKY. I AM UNBELIEVABLY PERKY. And then I'll lay down in bed and be out in a second, lol. :D **

**So I am really enjoying writing this Modern Day AU. I mean...I am **_**really, really, really, really, REALLY **_**enjoying it. I have so much more planned for this fic than most of you realize. Before you continue, I would like to say, I do NOT know what Astrid's middle name is, but this is a Modern Universe, and I don't think anyone will care if I'm getting it wrong. Anyways, here. We. Go! *swirling vortex appears out of no where* I don't know where the vortex came from, but let's roll with it! Woooooosh! **

"Do you have a phone?" Astrid asked.

"Uhh...yeah, why?" said Hiccup, taking his iPhone out of his pocket, hesitating ever so slightly.

Without hesitation, Astrid took it and punched the home button. She smiled.

"What?" said Hiccup. "What are you smiling at?"

"Your lock screen," said Astrid. She turned it around and showed Hiccup. His screensaver was a picture of a tiny black kitten in mid-yawn, so its pink gums were in perfect view. "Is this Toothless?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah," said Hiccup.

"He's adorable," said Astrid.

"What's the real reason you wanted my phone?" Hiccup asked.

"I wanted to give you my number," she replied. "May I?"

"Uh...sure," he replied. Astrid grinned and punched in her number. She handed him her phone absently while her other hand worked.

"Give me your number," she said.

"Oh...okay," said Hiccup. Astrid smiled. He was so awkward. After they both gave each other their phone numbers, they handed them back to their owners.

"Thanks," said Astrid, then she looked at the name Hiccup had punched in. "Hadley Horrendous Haddock the Third?" she asked.

"It's a _family name_..." Hiccup grumbled.

Astrid laughed.

"And you," said Hiccup, looking at the name Astrid had put in. "Astrid Rose Hofferson? Nice. I think it's pretty."

"Thanks," said Astrid. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then? Maybe we can, I don't know...get lunch? What time works for you?"

"Sure," said Hiccup. He shrugged. "Tomorrow, just call me, or text me, or whatever. Winter break just started, and my Mom's normally on late night, early morning work house calls during this time of year, so I'm pretty much open for any time."

"Okay, I'll just text you," said Astrid.

"Sounds good," said Hiccup. "See you then." He turned, waved, and then bolted down the sidewalk to his own house. Astrid smiled, turned, and walked through the door to her own house.

Her mother was stirring something on the stove, eying the door warily.

"Who was he?" she asked.

"A new kid," said Astrid. "His name is Hic...Hadley."

"Did you make a new friend?" her mother asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," said Astrid. "We're meeting for lunch tomorrow."

"Cool," said her mother. "Don't stay out too late."

"I won't," said Astrid. She turned and bolted up her staircase, to her own bedroom. Stormfly, her blue parrot, was sitting on one of her bedposts.

Her room was a wreck. Papers sprawled out on her desk, the pencil cup knocked over, the writing utensils that were once in it piled in heaps on the floor. Stormfly chirped.

"Hey, girl," Astrid greeted, ruffling the bird's feathers. Stormfly shook her head to fix them, and then flew, landing on Astrid's shoulder. The girl smiled and walked over to her bed, sitting on the edge of it. While she took out her phone, her black, violin case caught her eye.

She hadn't played it in forever, and she really didn't like playing the instrument very much, but she was good at it. That was something. She was good at it. A little out of practice, but still good at it.

Refocusing her gaze, Astrid unlocked her iPhone and tapped her contacts list. After finding Hiccup's number, she texted him.

_Whatcha workin' on? _she typed, and then sent. She waited for a few minutes before receiving her reply.

_Astrid, I haven't been gone five minutes. _

Astrid grinned, her fingers tapping the screen madly as she tried to reply as quickly as possible: _I know. Whatcha workin' on? _

Hiccup: _Guitar. You? _

Astrid: _Not much. Bored. _

Hiccup: _Um...yeah. _

_..._

Hiccup: _*awkward silence* Lol. :) _

Astrid: _Strange...I never know what to say over the phone. _

Hiccup: _Me neither! Ha3! _

Astrid: _What does Ha3 mean? _

Hiccup: _Oooh, sorry, I meant Lol. I'm from Malaysia, and we text Ha3 instead of Lol. Still getting used to it, I guess. :) _

Astrid: _Malaysia, huh? _

Hiccup: _Uhhhh...yeah. I guess I just forgot to tell you where I was from the other day, and I suppose I just forgot to say it today. Sorry about that. :( _

Astrid: _No worries. _

Hiccup: _Yay! :) Oh, I've got to go to bed. See you tomorrow. Goodnight. _

Astrid: _You too. Goodnight, Hiccup. See you tomorrow. _

She sat there for a while afterwards in silence, until she looked back down at her abandoned violin. Sighing, she picked it up, unzipped it, and strummed it. It was so badly out of tune, she couldn't hear the original notes. But, she took out her tuner, and got to work on it.

It took her nearly ten minutes, but she finally managed to get the violin back into perfect tune. Once she was done, she took her bow in her hand and rosined it. After she was finished doing that, she took up her instrument, and started playing.


	4. Chapter 4

**I never thought I would like writing Modern fics until I started this one. So far...I am having SO MUCH fun with it! :D And I've got SO MUCH more planned for it as well, so here...we...go! *cue dramatic drum roll* *cymbal crashes* Shout-outs: **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Happy new year! Yeah, I want SNOW! It snowed like, everywhere BUT my house yesterday, and it was. No. Fair. I was totally jealous. :) But I'm okay now. Living on Berk would be awesome for more reasons than just snow. :D **

It was noon when Astrid texted Hiccup again. She had spent her entire morning trying to clean up her room, failing each time when she got distracted by Stormfly, her violin, and daydreaming. And actually, she hadn't been the one to text first.

Her phone went off on an annoyingly high pitched voice of "Whoo! I've got a text message!" Every time she heard the ringer, she wanted to smash her entire phone and call it good, but she kept the ring, plainly because she was too lazy to change it.

She reached for her phone and unlocked it. She could already guess who the text was from.

_Where are we meeting again? _The name said "Hadley Horrendous Haddock the Third", and the was only one person in existance who had a name like that.

She sat down on the edge of her bed and texted back; _I'm thinking the ice cream parlor a few blocks away. You? _

She waited for about three minutes before she got her reply.

_Um...you do know we're getting lunch, right? _

She grinned and replied, _I know. Ice cream. Yum..._

Hiccup: _Um...okay. When should we meet? _

Astrid: _How about right now? _

Hiccup: _Perfect. I'll bring Toothless...the cat thinks he's a dog. Ha3. He keeps giving me a leash. And he likes water...crazy thing jumped in the shower with me this morning. Is that normal? _

Astrid: _Nope_.

Hiccup: _Great. My cat is psychotic. Okay, so, I'll meet you at...the ice cream parlor. For lunch... _

Astrid: _You got it. See you then, Hiccup_.

Hiccup: _You too. Byeeee_.

Astrid slipped her phone into her pocket and moved over to Stormfly. The parrot chirped and spread its wings before alighting on her master's shoulder.

"You wanna come too, girl?" Astrid asked, ruffling the bird's feathers. Stormfly croaked. "Okay then," said Astrid. "Let's head on out."

...

Somehow or another, Hiccup was actually there before Astrid. He was sitting at one of the outside tables, wearing a red t-shirt and jeans, along with a scarf that looked entirely out of place. A small ball of black fur was walking on top of the table, coming back over to sniff Hiccup every other minute.

"Hey," Astrid greeted.

"Hey yourself," Hiccup stood while he spoke. "I would like to introduce you to..." He paused for a dramatic effect, "...Toothless!"

The small kitten looked at Hiccup, and then at Astrid.

"Aww, he's so cute!" said Astrid. Toothless yawned. "And...yes, he is toothless," said Astrid.

"Yep, that's pretty much it," said Hiccup. "He thinks he's a dog."

"You told me that earlier," said Astrid. "Did he really jump in the shower with you?"

"Yeeep," said Hiccup. He rolled his eyes. "Crazy cat..."

Toothless purred.

"Yeah, and he's rather obnoxious," said Hiccup. "I was _trying _to play guitar earlier, and he kept trying to _sleep _on top of it. _Sleep_, Astrid. He tried to _sleep _on my guitar. While I was _playing _it."

"Cats are weird," said Astrid. She suddenly remembered the bird sitting on her shoulder, and realized that Hiccup probably hadn't noticed it yet. "Oh, and I wanted you to meet Stormfly!" said Astrid, gesturing to her parrot.

Stormfly chirped happily.

"I didn't know you brought your parrot," said Hiccup, approaching, slightly hesitant. "Wow...she's beautiful," he said. Stormfly cheaped, almost as if she were agreeing. "Does she repeat everything you say?"

"She can," said Astrid. "But she won't. Stubborn bird."

"Stubborn bird..." Stormfly repeated.

"Whoa gosh!" Hiccup shouted, stumbling backwards. Astrid laughed, and Stormfly appeared to be doing the same. "I wasn't expecting _that_," Hiccup groaned.

"You never can," said Astrid, running her hand over her bird's head. "Stormfly's very, very unpredictable."

"Oh, you don't say?" said Hiccup.

"You don't say," Stormfly squawked, almost mimicking Hiccup perfectly.

"Okay, now it's just getting creepy," said Hiccup.

"_Mrrrrooooww_," Toothless complained.

"Aww, is someone not getting enough attention?" said Hiccup. "Is that why you're pouting, you big baby?"

Toothless meowed.

"Well, I guess I'll take that as a yes," said Hiccup, looking at Astrid. "What else do I take it as?"

"I dunno," said Astrid, and smiled. "Let's head on in. I'm starving."

"For ice cream," said Hiccup.

"_Exactly_," said Astrid. "Come on, let's go."

Despite Astrid's protests, Hiccup ended up paying for the ice cream, only because he insisted, saying that he wanted to do it in a way of thanking Astrid for being one of his first friends since moving.

A few minutes later, Astrid and Hiccup were sitting at the table outside, their pets on their shoulders. Hiccup ran his spoon over his ice cream more often than he actually ate it, and Astrid just sat across from him, trying to think of a way to start the conversation.

"What's your favorite color?" she asked.

"What?" said Hiccup.

"What's your favorite color?" Astrid repeated.

"Um...my favorite color..." Hiccup leaned back in his chair, thinking. "I'd have to say red," he answered eventually. "What about yours?"

"Blue," said Astrid without hesitation. "Favorite artist?"

"Owl City," said Hiccup. "You?"

"Same, probably," said Astrid. "I don't listen to a lot of music, really, if I am completely honest."

"Oh, well okay," said Hiccup.

"Do you?" asked Astrid.

"Do I what?" said Hiccup.

"Listen to a lot of music," said Astrid.

"Aah, -ish," said Hiccup, making a seesaw motion with his hand. "Not as much as I used to, but yeah, still quite a bit."

"How old are you?" asked Astrid. "I'm not sure you ever told me."

"Seventeen," said Hiccup.

"When's your birthday?" Astrid asked.

"February twenty ninth," said Hiccup.

"You're only a few months older than me," said Astrid.

"Sweet," said Hiccup. "So...um..."

"Hang on, I've got it!" said Astrid. "Let's play a game of two truths and a lie."

"Oh I love this game," said Hiccup, leaning forward. "You go first."

"No, you go first," said Astrid.

"Um...okay," said Hiccup. "I have a lizard, I like bacon, and I am allergic to peanuts. Which one is the lie?"

"Um...well, I know you have a cat," said Astrid. "And...I've never seen you eat peanuts...or bacon, for that matter...I'm going to guess the first one is a lie."

"Nope," said Hiccup. "The third one is. I have a lizard named Sharpshot."

"Oh, you do, do you?" said Astrid. "Okay, my turn. I am dyslexic, I play violin, and have won a gymnastics award. Shoot."

"Okay," said Hiccup. "You seem like a very athletic person, so I would say the last one is a truth. Um...I'm going to guess the second one is the lie."

"Nopedy nopedy nope," said Astrid. "The first one is. I am NOT dyslexic."

"So...you play violin?" Hiccup asked, interest shining in his emerald eyes.

Astrid nodded. "Yeah, I do," she replied.

"But you told me you didn't play an instrument!" said Hiccup.

"No," said Astrid. "I asked 'does the radio count', or something like that."

"So you really play violin?" said Hiccup.

"Yeah," said Astrid. "Come by tomorrow and I'll show you. Alright?"

"Sounds great," said Hiccup.

And if they spent the rest of their day talking, not noticing the fact that their pets had eaten their ice cream when they weren't looking...well...no one needed to know that.


	5. Chapter 5

**I love this chapter for some reason. For being my first Modern fanfiction, how do you guys like it? I wasn't sure at first, and now I'm having a blast, lol. :D Shout-outs: **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Yep, Malaysia. I thought it would be cool. *shrugs* And fanart would be so cute! :D Too bad I'm a terrible artist, haha. :D **

**AnimeAngel: YOU GAVE THE TWINS WHAT!? *ducks as fire blows over my conputer* ABANDON BERK! EVACUATE! HIIIIIDDDDEEEE! *grabs computer and runs for very life* **

**silverwolvesarecool: No worries about reviews. Fanfiction has been a bit glitchy lately. My stories haven't been showing up on the main board. I'm glad you're all still able to read it, though. :) **

Around three o'clock that evening, Astrid was heading back to her house, when she bumped into Ruffnut.

"Oh, hey Astrid," said Ruffnut.

"Hi, Ruff," said Astrid. "What have you been doing today?"

"Not much," said Ruffnut. "So...you were hangin' out with that new kid?"

"Who?" said Astrid. "Hadley?"

"Yes Hadley," said Ruffnut. "Scott told me all about Hadley. It's strange, what I've heard you know, Astrid. I've known you for a fair few years. You don't normally hang out with the new kids."

"Well, I don't know," said Astrid. "He's just...different. He's different than anyone else I've met. He's kind of a nerd, but he's also really sweet."

"Uh huh," said Ruffnut. "Whatever you say, I'm not getting involved." Then, without another word, she walked on to her house. Astrid rolled her eyes and continued on the sidewalk.

"Oh, Ruff, there's one more thing!" Astrid turned around and shouted. Ruffnut stopped and looked at her. "Hiccup is an awesome guitar player," said Astrid. Then, she turned and headed off.

...

About an hour later, Astrid was at her house, picking up her violin, ready to give it another try. After playing for a little while, her phone went off in that annoyingly happy "Whoo! I got a text message!" voice it always rang out in.

Astrid set down her violin on her bed and reached for her phone. Taking it out of her pocket, she saw who it was from, and smiled. But then she read the message, and frowned all over again.

_Um…Astrid, I need your help._

She hadn't been expecting this by a long shot. Was something wrong? If it was, what was it?

_Hiccup, what happened? _She typed back in almost five seconds and sent it in even less. In a few minutes, she got the reply.

_Are you available? _

Astrid: _Why? What's wrong? Did something happen?_

Hiccup: _Well, let's just say I'm…clumsy. Toothless wanted to explore…cat thinks he's a dog, remember? And so…yeah, he ran off, I followed him, and then I tripped and slipped down a hill…and…yeah. Help?_

At first, Astrid was wondering what had happened. But in another instant, she knew that she needed to stop thinking about what had happened, and get to helping Hiccup, no matter what situation he was in.

She picked up her phone again, and typed out a quick reply message to Hiccup: _I'm going to call you. Tell me where you are over the phone, and then I want you to tell me what happened_.

She waited a full two minutes before she got her reply. _Sounds good. Just call me._

She didn't even think twice. She pulled on her coat, tied a scarf around her neck, ran down her staircase, and bolted out the door.

Then, she called Hiccup. The line rang only three times before he picked up.

"Huh, you weren't kidding when you said you'd call right away," he said over the line.

"You bet I wasn't," said Astrid. "Now, where are you? Is it close enough to walk?"

"Probably," Hiccup replied. "If you walk over to my house, there is an ally way kind of close." There was silence for a few seconds. "Do you see it yet?" he asked.

Astrid was running at this point. "Um…yeah, I see it," she said. "What now?"

"Okay, you will see a sort of drop," said Hiccup over the line. "Do you see it?"

"Yeah I see...Hiccup!" she shouted.

"So you see me?" Hiccup asked over the phone.

"Yeah," said Astrid. "Hang on. I'm hanging up now." She pressed "End", slipped her phone into her pocket while, at the same time, running down the steep slope, towards Hiccup.

He was leaning up against the wall, not putting any weight on his left ankle. Despite his outward appearance, he was smiling. Toothless was sitting on his shoulder, hissing at the boy's ankle as if it were to blame.

"What happened? What did you do to yourself?" Astrid demanded as she reached him.

"My clumsy self and dog-like-cat…" Hiccup groaned. "I didn't do anything to myself, Astrid. I just fell down a hill."

"And there's a _difference?" _asked Astrid. Hiccup gave her an "are you serious" look, and she changed the subject. "What happened to your ankle?" she asked.

"Just twisted it, I think," said Hiccup. "It's really not too bad, Astrid."

"Well, come on then," said Astrid. "Do you think we could get back to your house if I helped you? Is your Mom there, do you think?"

"Probably," said Hiccup. "She's going out of town in like, two weeks, or something. She told me so yesterday, meaning she's probably getting ready for that and all. Why do you ask?"

"Because _someone's _going to need to patch you up, and I certainly don't know how to," said Astrid with a half-laugh.

"You make an _excellent _point," said Hiccup, putting up one of his fingers on the word "excellent." "Shall we, oh I don't know…start heading there?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," said Astrid. "Come on."

No one was counting how long it took, but they could very well have guessed it was near half an hour. Once they got there, they were greeted by Hiccup's mother, who was absolutely shocked. She asked about a thousand questions while helping Astrid and Hiccup inside, sitting Hiccup down on the couch, and taking to wrapping his ankle.

Hiccup's mother was a tall woman that looked like a female older version of Hiccup. Her hair was auburn, super long, and her eyes were the same deep emerald as Hiccup's were.

"And that's how it happened," Hiccup finished telling his mother, and Astrid was jerked out of her thoughts when she realized that Hiccup had been talking the whole time. "I was just being careless."

"Well, you should start being more careful, Hiccup," said his mother. "One of these days, you're seriously going to hurt yourself. And it won't be as easy as a twisted ankle."

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Hiccup. "You usually are."

"So," said his mother, leaning back, "is this Astrid?"

"Yep," Hiccup answered. "She helped me a lot."

"Hiccup has told me all about you," said Hiccup's mother. She extended her hand to Astrid, and Astrid shook it. "My name is Valka, and it would be fine if you would call me so," said Valka. "I really don't like being known as 'Misses Valka' or 'Misses Haddock'. Just Valka. Hiccup's told me a lot, you know. I appreciate the fact that you have been such a great friend to him during the time we've been here."

"Thank you, Valka," said Astrid. "I've enjoyed it. He's a cool kid."

Valka nodded and smiled before standing. "You just twisted it a bit, Hiccup," she said. "You'll be fine in about a week. I need to go out on a business call…I would hate to bother you, Astrid…but if you don't have anything to do this evening…would you mind, maybe…staying with him?"

"Not at all!" said Astrid instantly. "I just have to call my Mom and let her know where I am, so she doesn't freak out."

"Thank you so much, Astrid," said Valka. "Even with a twisted ankle, I know Hiccup will find some way to get up and out of this house. He can't stay in the same place for more than a few minutes before he has to do something else."

"Will do," said Astrid. "Thanks."

Shortly after, Valka left. Astrid sighed and sat down next to Hiccup on the couch.

"Soooo…what now?" Astrid asked.

"Well…" said Hiccup. "Do you know how to play Mario Kart?"


	6. Chapter 6

**So, I'm back! Yes, I am back! :D You know what I based this scene on? Well, my friend was trying to teach me how to play Mario Kart, and I was like "whut?" and just ended up crashing and laughing hysterically while my friend tried to get me back on the road, since I was **_**so far **_**behind, and eventually I lost every single race and yet I **_**still **_**had a blast. So, yeah, I'm the Astrid of this chapter, and my friend is the Hiccup. I really love this chapter, and I hope you guys do, too. :D Enjoy! Shout-outs****: **

**AnimeAngel: NO! NO MATCHES! *explosion* AHHH WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! And yeah, cats are strange. You give them something...Cat: Is that mine? You: Yes. Cat: I don't want it. ... Cat: Is that mine? You: No. Cat: Yes it is. *shrugs* Lol. :D **

**HiccupHaddockIII: I suppose I did make Astrid a little bit too kind, but I was kind of modeling her more after the Astrid from HTTYD2. In the first film, I believe she was still trying to prove herself as a viking; while as in the second film, while she still is that strong, independent girl, I think she did kind of chill out a little bit. I suppose she could be a bit OOC, and I'm sorry. :( I will do better with future chapters. :D And in answer to your question: No, I do not play guitar, but two of my brothers do. I play piano, ocarina, and a little bit of violin here and there, so...yeah, the guitar playing is rather based off my brothers. :) **

**Jesusfreak: Yay! Popcorn! *jumps into the air and catches it* Whoop whoop! I'm glad you like it! This is my first Modern fanfic after all. :D **

**One Bright Light: I'm glad you're liking it! :D **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Aha, I could imagine Astrid and Hiccup playing Just Dance. :) That'd be awesome. :) I have to make a scene like that in the sequel to this fanfiction (I don't think I have room to put it in this one, idk. I kind of already have the plot played out in my head, haha). Next one, though, I have to do something like that! :D**

**Silver Electricity: COOOOOFFFFFEEEEE! I'm glad you like it! And here, have some coffee with extra espresso! *hands you some* YAY HAPPY NEW YEAR! *streamers pop out of nowhere.* SREAMERS, YAY! :D **

**ArabianDragon: Thank you so much! You are awesome too! I'm glad you like the story! :D **

"AAAAH!" Astrid shouted while turning her Wii controller in nearly a full circle. "Get back in your lane, you road-hogger!"

"You are talking to a computer, Astrid," said Hiccup.

"I know!" said Astrid. "And it should die!" She slammed down on one of the buttons, but instead of doing what she wanted it to, it sped up. "How to I stop this thing!?" she demanded.

"That button, right there," said Hiccup.

"WHAT BUTTON!?" shouted Astrid. "THIS ONE!?" she slammed down on it as hard as she possibly could.

"No, no, that's how you shoot!" said Hiccup.

Astrid pressed another random button, and her car swerved to a complete stop. Hiccup groaned and took her controller, handing her his own. She took it and tried it out while Hiccup tried to get Astrid back in the race.

"You have no _idea _how behind you are," he mumbled to himself. "Should I get you the training wheel?"

"I don't _need _the training wheel!" said Astrid. She crashed, and then handed the controller to Hiccup. "Okay, yeah, I need the training wheel," she mumbled. Hiccup paused the game and set her up. Then, he restarted the race as a whole, and they were out once again.

"I CAN'T DO IT!" Astrid shouted, turning her controller, twisting her arms in the process. "DIE, BLINKY! DIE!"

"Astrid, you know, small movements work even more fluently than big ones," Hiccup advised.

"WHAT MOVEMENTS!?" Astrid shouted. "I can't even get this crazy kart to start up again!" She tried once more, and then became enraged when her car went in reverse. She yelled and threw the controller against the wall. Quick as lightning, Hiccup shut off the game.

"Oookay, that's enough Mario Kart for you," he said. "I am _NOT _in the mood for buying another controller."

"Well don't blame me," said Astrid. "Blame him!"

"I'm not blaming Luigi for your driving skills," said Hiccup.

"Then blame Mario," said Astrid.

"Let's not play anymore Wii," Hiccup suggested. "I don't think it's such a good idea anymore."

"Fine," said Astrid. "Wish I could disagree." She sat down again, staring blankly at the TV screen. "What movies do you have?" she asked.

"Um...I don't know," said Hiccup. "We haven't exactly organized everything yet, but you could look."

"Okay," said Astrid, rising to a stand. "Where do I look?"

"Maybe I should help you," said Hiccup.

"No, no, you stay down and rest your ankle," said Astrid. "I'm sure I can manage." She moved behind the couch and started rummaging through moving boxes. "Which one?" she shouted over her shoulder.

"The ones on the left, probably," said Hiccup.

"My left or your left?" said Astrid.

"_Astrid, _there's only _one left_," Hiccup groaned.

Pause. "Oh, right," said Astrid. "I think I found it." She came back a second later with a DVD in hand. "Does Lord of the Rings work for you?" she asked.

"Uh...yeah, yeah it does," said Hiccup. Astrid smiled and moved forward, kneeling in front of the TV. She inserted the disk and then moved, grabbing the remote as she went and sat beside Hiccup.

"Thanks," said Hiccup. "I'm not used to really being...you know...treated well."

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked.

"I told you I was from Malaysia," said Hiccup. "And...yeah, no one there really treated me like I mattered. I was bullied at school non stop, so when we moved here just recently, my Mom decided to homeschool me. But the kids back on Malaysia loved to upset me, push me around, and just...bully me, to say the least."

"That's...terrible," said Astrid, trying to think of a better word. "And you're seventeen?"

"Yeah, well, then there's that," said Hiccup. "I don't exactly _look _that age, now do I? No, I look like I'm somewhere around fifteen. And so naturally, that's another thing I got teased about. And then there's my name...which, as you could well imagine, sent their imaginations clear through the rooftops."

"What do you mean?" said Astrid for the second time in that conversation, wishing she could have said something different.

Hiccup smiled in her direction, and then broke out into a high-pitched impersonation; "Oh, what kind of name is Hadley?" he mimicked, flicking one of his auburn, uneven bangs away from his emerald green eyes. "Who would name their baby Hadley?"

Astrid, despite herself, laughed. She felt like she shouldn't have, but she just couldn't help it.

"Oh, and you look like, seven!" Hiccup went on, this time in a deep voice. "And guess how old I am? Eight!"

Astrid fell off the couch laughing, trying to contain herself. Hiccup broke out of character and joined in, just not as violent or persistent as Astrid's.

"What?" said Hiccup eventually, leaning over the couch to get a look at the girl on the floor, still laughing her head off. "What did I say?" he asked, between his own laughs.

"_Oooh_ Hiccup," said Astrid, finally regaining enough breath to speak in a full sentence. She sat up on her knees, and then thought about what she was laughing about. "I'm sorry I laughed," she apologized. "It wasn't even funny, you being bullied like that your whole life."

Hiccup was shaking his head before she even finished speaking. "I was going for a laugh, Astrid," said Hiccup. "You see how ridiculous it sounds, though? I was going for a laugh." He looked at her, seeing how she was still hiding a grin. "And by the looks of it," he said, "I got one."

Astrid grinned and sat back down on the couch. "You know what?" she said.

"What?" Hiccup replied.

"I haven't been watching the movie at all," said Astrid, giggling.

"Me neither," said Hiccup. "Should we restart it?"

"Probably," said Astrid. And so, she grabbed the remote, and went back to the beginning.


	7. Chapter 7

**HELLO! :D This is my SECOND update today, I believe. I did quite a few yesterday. I know, some people don't like Modern AUs, and that's fine by me. You don't have to read it. :) Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: Thank you! And yeah, I'm Astrid whenever I play a video game, only I've never thrown a controller before. :) **

Hiccup fell asleep halfway through "The Return of the King." They had watched the first and second one, having to restart or rewind (or both at times) them each a fair few times because they kept getting caught up in chattering or talking or laughing. Once he was asleep, Astrid decided that she would head to her own house. It was nearly midnight, and she hadn't given her mother an exact time when she would be returning, so she figured she should probably go ahead back.

And so, she turned off the TV, took off Hiccup's glasses for him and set them on the nightstand, looked on last time at him sleeping on the couch, Toothless curled on his lap, and then headed back to her own abode.

...

The next morning, Astrid ran down to breakfast. Her mother was already seated at the table, and then when she saw Astrid, motioned to a plate across from her. Astrid nodded, thanked her mother, and then sat down and dug into her food.

"So," said Astrid, "I was going to ask you about going back to Hic...Hadley's place again."

Her mother nodded. "I figured you would," she said. "I'm needed at the shop this morning. You can go over, just so long as you get back, preferably before midnight this time, okay?"

"Okay," said Astrid. Her mother worked at a local pawn shop. She wasn't needed on too many occasions, but when she was, she was _desperately _needed.

"Alright," her mother stood, grabbed her coat and scarf, and made for the door. "No later than nine tonight. Okay? Keep in touch."

"Okay," Astrid agreed. "Have a good day."

"You too," said her mother. Then, she left. Another instant later, Astrid jumped up from her seat, and ran back up stairs. Stormfly was on her perch where she was always found, and she squawked at her master.

"You wanna come with me, girl?" Astrid asked. Stormfly spread her wings, flew, and alighted on Astrid's shoulder, which was her way of saying _yes_. Astrid smiled, grabbed her sweatshirt, and got ready to leave, when she saw her violin case leaning up against the wall. Sighing, she went over and grabbed it. She could take it, and then show Hiccup some of what she knew. He would love it.

Then, she ran down the stairs (much to Stormfly's dismay), bolted out the door, and headed off.

She knocked on Hiccup's door only once before she heard his voice call out, "Come in." She opened the door, and headed inside.

"Morning, Astrid," said Hiccup. "Morning, Stormfly."

"Morning Stormfly," repeated Stormfly.

"Oh come on," said Astrid. "She only repeats with you, and Ruff."

Hiccup laughed. "You're here early," he commented.

"Not really," said Astrid. "It's nine o'clock."

"Oh, well, I guess I slept in," said Hiccup. "How are you doing?"

"Good," said Astrid. "And you?"

"Can't complain, can't complain," he replied simultaneously.

"How's your ankle feeling?" said Astrid.

"Better than yesterday," said Hiccup. "Still sore, but not as bad as it was yesterday. I was able to get my guitar case from my room earlier today without _too _much of a problem." He gestured to the case on the floor.

Astrid moved over and sat down beside him, setting her violin case upright against the couch. Stormfly chirped at Hiccup, and he stroked her head for just a second before averting his gaze to her instrument case.

"You didn't tell me you brought your violin," said Hiccup.

"Well, yeah," said Astrid. "I was thinking, maybe you would like to hear it, since you said you wanted to the other day, but I just didn't know. I don't want to bore you, or anything."

"Oh, don't worry about it," said Hiccup. "Just sitting here on the couch doing nothing while Toothless paces back and forth is really getting boring enough. I can't exactly play guitar with Toothless trying to sleep on it every time I strum it, either."

"Oh, well okay," said Astrid.

"Can you play some now?" Hiccup asked.

"If you want me to," said Astrid.

"Sure, go on ahead," said Hiccup. "I'm watching."

"That's creepy," said Astrid.

"While that may be true," said Hiccup, "doesn't change the fact that I really want to hear it."

"Okay, I'm going to start then, if that's what you really want," Astrid unzipped her violin case and took out her instrument. "I'm a...little out of practice," she admitted.

"I wouldn't fret," said Hiccup.

"Was that a musical pun?" said Astrid.

"Yes, yes it was," said Hiccup.

She was tempted to hit him with her violin.

"What?" said Hiccup. "What's with the blank expression?"

"No comment," said Astrid. "You like puns?"

"Not _really_," said Hiccup. "Only the good ones."

Astrid rolled her eyes and got in her violin position. Taking a deep breath, she started playing. And she...was..._good_, if Hiccup were to say the very least. She played two fast ones, and then some slower ones along with that as well. Hiccup remained silent, only because he was too awed to say anything.

When Astrid finished playing, she set her instrument in bowing position and then looked back at Hiccup. He applauded wholeheartedly and gave her a thumbs up.

"That was awesome," said Hiccup. "How long have you played?"

"A few years, or something like that," said Astrid while shrugging. "Do you like it?"

"I think it's awesome," said Hiccup. "Can you play another one?"

And so she did just that. She had played her violin lots in the past when she first began at schools and such, but this was different. Playing for fun, when no one could judge her...and plus, having an audience who was completely in love with music and instruments made it all the more enjoyable for her.

As she had told Ruff; Hiccup was different. He was different than any other person Astrid had ever known or met at any past date. He was different in every way he could have possibly been so.

Astrid was just now realizing that different was good.


	8. Chapter 8

**This is my THIRD update, if I stand correctly (which I hope I do, since I'm not a fan of being wrong, haha). I'm having quite a bit of fun with this story. :) Shout-outs****: **

**AnimeAngel: Mario Kart, and Rainbow Road...crazy. And yes, you did leave a review for chapter 7. :) Let's find the twins and throw then into a room that totally traps them. Well...I guess they can cause trouble everywhere. :) **

**silverwolvesarecool: Yes, I loved writing that last chapter! I had so much fun with it! :D**

**Silver Electricity: AHHH COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE! Glad you like it so far! :D I've got TONS more planned for this story. It should be around twenty five chapters long, or somethin' like that. :) **

Two weeks passed since Hiccup had twisted his ankle, once week since it had healed. And now today finds Hiccup and Astrid at the airport around two o'clock in the afternoon, saying goodbye to Valka.

Astrid had remembered Hiccup saying something about his mother going out of town for business, and now today was that day. Hiccup had told her earlier that morning, and had also asked her to come with him. And of course, she hadn't refused.

"Remember Hiccup," said Valka, "even though you're seventeen, you can still ask your Uncle for help when you need it."

"I'm not so certain I'll need it, but thanks," said Hiccup.

"Well, I'll be back in a month or two," said Valka. "Stay out of trouble."

"You know me," said Hiccup.

"That's exactly what worries me," said Valka.

"I'll keep him out of trouble," said Astrid.

"I know you will," said Valka. "Well, I'm off. Goodbye, you two." She kissed Hiccup on the cheek, and then ruffled Astrid's hair before turning, grabbing her bags, and heading off to catch her plane.

"Bye, Mom!" Hiccup shouted to her, waving his hand back and forth.

"Bye Valka!" Astrid called out. Valka turned around and waved before continuing on.

Hiccup sighed, pushing his glasses further up on his nose. "So...what should we do now?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Astrid. "There's a Pizza Parlor down the street. Do you want to-?"

"Last one there buys," Hiccup cut her off, and ran off in the opposite direction.

"That's what I wanted to hear," said Astrid, just before turning and running after him.

...

Hiccup got there first, but still talked Astrid into letting him pay part of it. A few minutes later, they were sitting at one of the outside tables, eating pepperoni pizza.

"So, what does your Mom do?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup shrugged. "Different things," he said. "She's a lawyer, and then for spare time, helps out on building houses and such. It's really kind of a big deal, you know, and I don't really get to spend much time with her as a whole, but when we do, it's fun. When she has the day off, we savor every instant of it. So...what about your parents?"

"My Mom works at a pawn shop, and my Dad serves in the military," said Astrid. "So, yeah, I don't see him very often, either. I see my Mom a lot, though."

Hiccup nodded. "So...what should we do now?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Astrid. "We _could _go see a movie, or something. Is anything good playing?"

"I don't know, exactly," said Hiccup. "I've only been here roughly a month. I still don't know many theatres or anything."

"I think The Hobbit it playing still," said Astrid. "Do you like that kind of stuff?"

"Do I really need to answer that?" Hiccup laughed. "Astrid, we watched all three Lord of the Rings movies the other night, and you're wondering if I'm into that kind of stuff."

"Then it's settled," said Astrid.

"Great!" said Hiccup. "I'm buying."

"No, now you have to let me!" said Astrid.

"No, you paid for lunch," said Hiccup.

"Actually you did half of it," Astrid pointed out.

"Well it was _your _idea, so _I _should do something else to help," said Hiccup.

"But _you _approved to the idea, so it's my turn!" said Astrid.

"Are we seriously arguing over who buys the movie tickets?" Hiccup said with a half laugh.

"Yeah," said Astrid. "I think we are."

"Let's split the cost," said Hiccup.

"Let's," said Astrid.

...

And that's exactly what they did. After the movie, it was nearly six o'clock at night.

"Wow, okay, so that was longer than I expected," said Hiccup. "I should probably go ahead back to my house before it gets too dark."

"Yeah, me too," said Astrid. "My Mom will be worried sick if I come back later than I promised I would."

"Do you want to meet for lunch tomorrow?" Hiccup offered.

"Sounds great to me," said Astrid after a split second of hesitation. "Just so long as you let _me _pay for it this time. _All of it_. And I really mean _all of it_."

"Good grief, Astrid!" said Hiccup.

"Just go with it," said Astrid. "It's the best way to do stuff around me, you know. Because I'm too stubborn once I have my mind made up. And right now, I've _really _got my mind made up."

"Oh for the love of..." Hiccup groaned.

Astrid laughed. "Seriously though," she said in a much more serious tone, although she was still smiling, "let me."

"Okay, okay, fine," said Hiccup, putting up his hands in surrender. "I will see you tomorrow in that case. We'll meet...I don't know...the pizza place again?"

"Deal," said Astrid. "Twelve o'clock sharp. And don't you forget."

"I won't," Hiccup promised. "So...I'll see you then."

"Yep, sounds good," Astrid agreed. "See you."

They turned and went their own separate ways. Astrid was excited. Tomorrow couldn't wait.

**Okay, so, do you all like it so far? Good? Bad? Just so you all know, I have NOT seen the third Hobbit yet, and don't want anything spoiled. Haha. :D So, I have a lot planned for this take, and constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcomed. Thank you! :D I will be back to continue this story real soon, as I always try my best to do. Until then, this is BeyondTheClouds777, signing out of cliffhangerness and going back into it in the next chapter and more future chapters to come. :) BYE! **


	9. Chapter 9

**This is my FORTH update today I believe. This was one of the most difficult chapters to write, and why it was, I'm not quite certain. But here it is! Yay! Shout-outs: **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Haha! Yeah, I love puns. :) And I thought it would be cool to make Hiccup play guitar and Astrid violin. I love both instruments, although I don't play guitar. I love puns so much, especially music puns, because there's so much you can do with them. :) Whenever I play Mario Kart, my friend is always winning, and she is very stoic about it, too. So I'm laughing my head off on the couch because I keep crashing and losing every race I attend and for some odd reason I think it's _so hilarious_. I am crazy, maybe, I guess. :D**

**AnimeAngel: AHH HTTYD3 soundtrack AAAAH. I listened to it a few weeks ago and just about died. Even if it's not genuine, it's still beautiful anyways. :) Yes, Aquaria can claim _whatever _she wants when it comes to the twins and fireworks. :) I'll get Sparkglider to help her. *whistles* *Changewing flies and lands behind me***

**silverwolvesarecool: Haha. :) I'm really glad you're liking the story. Some people hate Modern AUs, so I really didn't know how this would work out, but by the looks of it, I have more people who like it then dislike it, so YAY. :D Thanks, Sil! See ya when I see ya. **

Astrid waited for him at the pizza parlor. She checked her phone clock; it was twelve o'five. She set her phone down and sighed. Where was he? She was certain she had said twelve o'clock sharp...right?

She took out her phone and decided to text him, just to make sure she hadn't said something else.

_Hey, Hiccup_, she wrote out, _we did say we'd meet at 12, right? At the pizza parlor, right? _She tapped "send" and sent it. Then, she sat the phone back down and waited for a response.

Five minutes passed.

No response, no Hiccup. Five more minutes passed; no response, no Hiccup.

Astrid picked up her phone and texted him again. _Hiccup? In case you didn't get my earlier message, I asked it we were meeting at the pizza parlor at twelve, didn't I? Did you get it? _She waited for a response, but none came.

Twelve thirty came along sooner than expected. Worried, Astrid just decided that, since texting Hiccup obviously wasn't working very well, she should just call him. So, that's exactly what she did.

She held the phone and listened to it ring. _Rrrrriiiiiiinnnng..._ One ring, she counted mentally to herself. _Rrrrriiiiiiinnnng_... That made two rings. _Rrrrriiiiiiinnnng_... That was three. _Rrrrriiiiiiinnnng..._ Now it was four. _Rrrrriiiiiiinnnng_... That made five. Then, the answering machine picked up.

_Hey, this is Hadley, and I am unavailable...just, leave a message, and I'll get back to you. Bye._

The ringer went off on a loud _BEEEP_, and Astrid started recording her message.

"Hey, Hiccup, it's me, Astrid," she said. "Where are you? I'm waiting at the pizza parlor. We did say we'd meet today at twelve at said location, didn't we? If we didn't, well, maybe if you get this message we could meet tomorrow, or later on today, or whichever time works for you. If you could call me back, that'd be great. Um...talk to you later, bye."

She ended the call and sat her phone down. Where was he? What could he have possibly been doing? Yeah, she had only known him for a few weeks, but still, she worried about where he was, and what could have happened.

Then she got an idea. Maybe his phone was dead. It was a possibility...but then that didn't explain why he hadn't shown up yet. Maybe he had overslept again...but really, it was twelve thirty five now. But still, it was possible, after all.

Mind made up, Astrid stood up and headed to Hiccup's house to see if he was there. She stomped right up to the door and knocked on it.

"Hiccup," she called. "Are you in there?"

There was no reply.

Confused, and now getting worried, she knocked again. When she still gained no response whatsoever, she opened the door, wondering why it wasn't locked. She stepped inside and looked around.

Everything was off. The lights were off, the TV was off...as if no one was home. Astrid suddenly thought that maybe, Hiccup could have been on his way to the parlor when she left. So, she turned and was about to head back, but was stopped by a rather loud meow.

"Toothless?" she questioned, turning around. Said cat was moping around in the dark, meowing at Astrid and pawing at her legs.

"What is it, Toothless?" said Astrid, picking up the kitten and holding him at eye level. Toothless meowed pathetically, wiggled out of Astrid's arms, and then scurried off. Astrid followed him out of curiosity, wondering where he was going.

He lead her to a back room, and then looked up on one of the shelves.

"_Mwwwwwrooow,_" he grumbled.

Astrid looked up, and saw he was meowing at the bag of cat food.

"Didn't Hiccup feed you today?" said Astrid. Hiccup had told her once that he always fed Toothless around nine o'clock in the morning. And by now, Astrid figured it was around one in the afternoon. The poor cat was probably starving.

While getting Toothless just a little bit of food, in case Hiccup had fed him, she wondered where Hiccup was. As soon as making sure Toothless was okay, she turned and walked back out the door, back to the pizza parlor.

Hiccup wasn't there still. She picked up her phone and tried calling him again. After listening to the annoying ring five times, his answering machine picked up. She hang up, this time without leaving a message, and then texted him again.

_Where are you? _she typed. _I've been waiting for a while now, and now you're making me worried. Is this some kind of pun, or prank, or whatever you call it? If it is, please stop it. You got me, okay? You really got me. Please meet me at the parlor now, Hiccup, or at least reply and tell me why you can't_.

She sent the text and waited, counting the minutes until she reached five. Five minutes without a reply. Five minutes without her annoying ringer going off.

For once in her life, she missed that annoying "Whoo! I've got a text message!" voice that rang out every time someone texted her.

She waited for another hour. And then another hour. And then another hour. And then another hour. It was four o'clock when she decided to head back to her house. Just as she stood to go, her phone ringer went off.

At first, she was overjoyed. _Hiccup was finally responding! _she thought madly, and then picked up her phone, only to realize it was just her mother calling to check up on her.

Astrid sighed when her mother hang up after a short conversation exchange between the two of them. Where was Hiccup?

Confused and disappointed, Astrid moped back to her own house. Before she did, though, she checked Hiccup's place again. It was still vacant, besides Toothless, and what did Hiccup call his lizard...oh yeah, Sharpshot. His two pets, but no sign of Hiccup himself.

While on her way back to her own house, she heard someone call her from behind.

"Astrid!" the voice shouted.

Astrid turned around and found herself face to face with Ruffnut, who was running, panting from lack of breath. Astrid wasn't in the mood to talk to the Thorston girl. Especially not at that time.

"What is it, Ruff?" said Astrid as Ruffnut stopped in front of her, her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. "What's so important?" said Astrid.

"It's..." Ruffnut gasped for breath as she tried to regain it. "Hadley...or, Hiccup, as most people call him."

"What?" said Astrid. Hiccup? Now they were getting somewhere. "Where is he, Ruff?"

"He..." Ruffnut gasped to get oxygen back in her lungs from a supposed long distance she had ran. "He was hit by a car."


	10. Chapter 10

**This is my FIFTH update today. Sorry about that last cliffhanger. :) Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: YIKES. Could you only imagine? Poor Astrid... *sobs uncontrollably* *perks up again* I need to write some more chapters now. *still sobs* AGH. **

It suddenly became too hot. Astrid became light headed, and then found that she couldn't breathe. Hiccup was...no, he wasn't. Not true. Ruffnut was lying. She _had _to be lying. Another prank by the Thorston girl? Yeah, that's it. Nothing more than a mindless, childish prank.

"You're joking," said Astrid. "You have to be joking."

"No, I'm not!" said Ruffnut. "Come on!" She grabbed her hand, and yanked her along.

Astrid didn't need to be told in order to follow. She didn't know where Ruffnut was going, but she could guess pretty well.

"How would _YOU _find out before I do?" Astrid demanded while running.

"Because I was there!" said Ruffnut. "I watched it, Astrid, it was terrible. Hiccup was giving me my weekly guitar lessons-"

"How did I not know about this?" said Astrid.

"No idea," said Ruffnut. "So, we do our lessons once a week, early morning. And so, on our way back, he was going to go meet you for something...I think he said it was lunch. And then the light went green for us to cross the road, and this car runs the red light, and the next thing you know, people are screaming and shouting 'Call 911!' and I see-"

"I don't want to know!" Astrid snapped.

"But you do," said Ruffnut. "Deep down, you know you do."

"How long ago was this!?" Astrid shouted, trying to keep her mind off the one thing it kept drifting to.

"Around noon," said Ruffnut. "Or some...I don't know! I wasn't watching the clock! It's hard to do when your friend is hit by a speeding vehicle!"

Astrid could practically_ hear_ her heartbeat drumming in her ears as she ran alongside Ruffnut, nearly outrunning her in the process.

"Where are going now?" said Astrid.

"Oh, I don't know," said Ruffnut sarcastically. "Our friend was just hit by a car, let's go get ice cream! We're going to the hospital, Astrid!"

Oh, right. Yeah. The hospital. Astrid couldn't think right at that moment. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Hiccup was hit by a car.

"What about Valka?" said Astrid.

"She's already been contacted," said Ruffnut. "She's on a plane back here as we speak and run."

"How do you know that!?" said Astrid.

"Because the doctors asked me to do so, since I was the only one there who seemed to actually know Hiccup!" Ruffnut snapped. "They asked me if I could contact his mother, and I did. She's coming back, and will be back quite possibly in the middle of the night."

"How bad was it!?" Astrid shouted. "The whole car thing, I mean!"

"It was pretty darn bad, Astrid," said Ruffnut. "And I mean _really, really, really _bad. His heart actually stopped in the ambulance on the way to the hospital...they had to get it beating again somehow. It's a miracle he's even alive at all."

"Ruff, just stop, please, I can't..." Astrid started, her voice trailing off. She couldn't think about Hiccup - the little, guitar playing, pun-pulling weirdo she had learned to know and care about - on a hospital bed, surrounded by doctors fighting to keep him alive. It made her head and heart hurt.

"Let's get the bikes," said Ruffnut.

"I don't have a bike!" said Astrid.

"You can use my brother's," said Ruffnut. "Are you coming or not?"

Astrid nodded and followed Ruffnut to her house, where Ruffnut opened the garage door and rolled a black bike out for Astrid. As soon as that was done, Ruffnut ran back in and got her own. Astrid was already halfway down the sidewalk before Ruffnut even mounted her bike.

"Astrid, wait!" Ruffnut yelled, but Astrid didn't wait. How did one expect her to wait? No, she wouldn't wait. She couldn't wait. It was impossible. If someone had wanted her to, quote on quote, "wait", they would have had to tie her to the ground. And even then, she would have fought and struggled.

"Astrid, I'm serious!" said Ruffnut.

Astrid growled, slowed down, but didn't stop. As soon as Ruffnut caught up with her, she sped up again, faster and faster, until Ruffnut was left behind once more. When that happened, Astrid slowed down, let her catch up, and then repeated the previous cycle.

"Astrid!" Ruffnut gasped. "Stop!"

How did Ruffnut expect her to even slow down, much less stop? At that point, slowing down was hard enough for Astrid as it was without Ruffnut telling her that she needed to stop altogether. No way. Absolutely _no way_.

An hour. It took an hour before they finally made it to the hospital. Astrid jumped off her bike and ran across the street without even parking it.

"Hey!" said Ruffnut. "At least show _some _respect for my brother's bike!"

At that moment, Astrid could have _broken _the bike and wouldn't have cared. She could have broke it, thrown a hundred dollars at Ruffnut to buy a new one, and she still wouldn't have even thought about what she was doing. Why she suddenly felt so worried about Hiccup, she didn't know. Well, she was his friend, and she guessed that that was a big part of it. She cared about him, too. She cared about what would happen to him.

She threw open the double doors so harshly she was almost certain she had heard one of the hinges snap, and ran inside, followed by a very fumigated Ruffnut, who had leaned both bikes up against one of the trees located across the street.

Both girls stopped in front of the front desk, panting from the run and ride over. The lady sitting behind the desk, wearing a nametag "Susie" on her white coat, leaned forward to look at both girls.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"We're..." Astrid gasped for breath. Never again would she run. She'd just take a car. "...here to see...Hiccup."

"Hiccup?" the girl questioned.

Astrid mentally slapped herself. His name wasn't Hiccup. Not his _real _name, anyway.

"Hadley," Astrid corrected herself. "Hadley Haddock."

"Hadley?" Susie repeated. Astrid and Ruffnut nodded in unison. "Are you family?" she asked.

"No, ma'am," said Astrid. "Just friends."

"Uh-huh," said Susie. "I'm sorry, but we aren't allowing any visitors other than family."

"WHAT!?" said Astrid.

As if on cue, the doors burst open once more, and Valka raced through. She was dragging a suitcase with her, in a full run. She dropped the suitcase in the middle of the waiting room and then raced to the desk, either not noticing Ruffnut and Astrid, or ignoring then altogether.

"How can I help-" Susia started.

"Hadley Haddock," Valka interrupted. "I'm here to see Hadley Haddock. I'm his mother."

"Room 701 on the E wing," Susie replied suddenly, not expecting Valka to answer so quickly and stoically.

"Thank you thank you thank you," Valka called over her shoulder, turning and running off.

"Wait!" said Astrid. Of course, Valka didn't wait. Astrid turned back to the desk clerk. "We're with her," she said.

"Nice try," said the clerk. "Even if you were with her, you two aren't family. And I'm sorry, but we're not allowing anyone but family in."

Well, at least it was worth a shot.

**Question: Should I write a one-shot for when when Hiccup was hit by the car, like, I don't know, in Ruffnut's POV? If you guys want me to, I will, but I won't post it until later chapters to come. Just so you all know. What do you think? See ya next time! **


	11. Chapter 11

**This is my SIXTH update today, and I'm sorry 'bout that last cliffy thing I did. It wasn't very nice of me, was it? Well, here's some shout-outs: **

**IWriteSinsOrTragedies: For some reason, I really like intense scenes. Thanks for reviewing! :D Reviews mean a lot to me. :) **

**ArabianDragon: Yes, I like cliffhangers. Can you tell? Haha. Just kidding. I'm sure you can tell. _Everyone _can tell. And that's why try to update a lot each day. :) Yes, I will do a one-shot for it. That much is decided. :) I just don't know when I'm going to post it. **

**silverwolvesarecool: You'll have to see! :) And yes, Astrid does care about him. :) **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Yes, she is very good, and very stoic about it. It's funny. I have some other friends, and whenever we play video games, we always end up going absolutely crazy. :) I think I'm going to do Ruffnut's POV for that one-shot. I think that's the best option. :) **

**AnimeAngel: Don't die, don't die...and yeah, i think Sparkglider already took the second place, and she's _NOT _going to give it up *Sparkglider growls* And...yeah. I'll take place three, though, and then you can take four, or you can take three, and I'll take four, or whatever. And yeah, it'll be a one-shot, and probably be posted seperatly as well, unless I write it as an epilogue. I don't know. What do you think? **

**One Bright Light: NO ONE denies Astrid Hofferson...and lives. :)**

Astrid was crushed. Absolutely crushed.

She followed Ruffnut out of the hospital with a heavy heart, leaving her head bowed, trying to take it all in. Okay; okay, not okay. She wasn't okay. She _wasn't _okay.

"I'm sorry, Astrid," said Ruffnut.

"What?" said Astrid. "You didn't do anything."

"Well, it makes me happy to hear that, because you're really making me feel guilty with your crying," said Ruffnut.

Astrid reached up and touched her cheek, finding it soaked with salty tears. Funny, she didn't remember letting those tears fall.

"Sorry," she said. "I can't help it. If he dies-"

"He won't die," said Ruffnut. "Or...at least I hope he won't."

For some _strange_ reason, that didn't make Astrid feel any better.

...

One week passed before Astrid saw even a sign of Valka. Astrid had been trying to get a hold of either Valka or her son every single day and nearly every single moment she spent awake through that week, only to fail each go around, leaving herself more miserable and worried than the time before that.

Throughout that week, Astrid had taken care of Toothless; fed him, made sure he had water, taken care of the litter box, and everything else. But Toothless still moped around the house sadly, pawing at the door, obviously trying to look for Hiccup. She also took care of Sharpshot, but he was easier to care for than a cat.

And then she saw Valka. It was one of those days when she was taking care of Toothless that Valka entered the household, jumping when she saw Astrid. Astrid jumped just as well as the other woman, and then they both started talking at once.

"What are you doing here?" they asked in unison. "What?" they said, once again in sync.

"I'm getting a few things," said Valka.

"I'm taking care of Toothless and Sharpshot," said Astrid.

"Thank you, Astrid," said Valka, but she said it as if she were hardly thinking about it. "Hiccup would be crushed if he came back to see his pets dead."

"How is he, speaking of which?" said Astrid. "I haven't seen either one of you in a week. I've been worried."

Valka sighed. "Not good, Astrid," she said. "He hasn't woken up yet...he's in a coma."

Astrid felt her heart stop just for a split second. "A coma?" she asked. "For a week?"

Valka nodded. "They...they had to take his leg," she said.

Astrid gasped and stumbled backwards. "They...they had to..." she gulped.

"They didn't have a choice," said Valka. "There was no saving it. And they couldn't have kept it on, because it would easily get infected, and then it would eventually kill him. It was either his leg or his life, and which one is the obvious choice?"

"His life, of course," said Astrid. "But his leg..."

"They're making a prosthetic," said Valka. "For if he wakes up...no, no, I didn't mean to say 'if.' I meant...I meant 'when.' But Astrid...the doctors don't even know _if _he would wake up. Most of them...most of them are...well, I overheard some of them, and they don't think he ever will-"

"Don't listen to them," said Astrid. "He will. I know he will." Correction: I _hope _he will. That's what Astrid was really saying, and the young Hofferson girl knew it. But there was no way she was telling that to Valka, especially when she was already that scared...

"I hope you're right, Astrid," said Valka. "I just allowed visitations, not to everyone, but just a few close people. You're one of those people, Astrid."

"Thank you," said Astrid.

"Would...do you think you would like to..." Valka started, hesitating slightly, trying to find the words, "I don't know...visit him?"

Astrid almost couldn't contain herself. Did Valka even really _need _to ask that question?

"Yes, I do," said Astrid, trying to keep excitement out of her voice.

"Thank you," said Valka. "Then you can. I need to get him some new glasses. His other ones are smashed. It shouldn't take me too long, and I really don't want to leave him alone longer than I have to."

"Yeah, I could go over," said Astrid. "I would...I would really like to go over. If it's not too hard..."

"It's not," said Valka. "Just tell them your name and who you're there to see."

"I will," said Astrid. "Thank you, Valka."

"Thank you, too," said Valka.

They turned and went their separate ways, Astrid running to the Thorston residence.

"Ruff!" she shouted to Ruffnut as she walked out her front door and started beating a rug against the side of the house.

"Hey, Astrid," said Ruffnut. "I haven't heard anything from you in ages now! What do you need?"  
>"I need to borrow your bike," said Astrid.<p>

Ruffnut groaned. "Oh no, not again," she said. "You can borrow Tuff's, but _NOT _mine. I don't want to enjoy my bike if it's broken."

"Thank you," said Astrid. the garage door was already open, so she just simply ran inside it, grabbed Tuffnut's bike, and started off to the hospital once again.

When she got there, she threw the bike against the tree and called it good, and then proceeded to run across the street after making sure it was safe to cross, and then burst through the doors once more.

There was a different desk clerk, but maybe that was just as well.

Astrid ran straight up to the front desk and hesitated suddenly. Did she really want to know what injuries Hiccup underwent? Well, of course she did. There was always a slight curiosity that constantly engulfed her being. But would she be able to take it?

"Hello," said the clerk, breaking Astrid from her thoughts. "Can I help you, miss?"  
>"Um, yes," said Astrid. "My name is Astrid Hofferson, and I'm here to see Hadley Haddock."<p>

The clerk nodded and then shifted through some papers. "Yes, your name is on the visitation list," she said. "Hadley Haddock is in room 701, wing E."

"Thank you," she said quickly, and then headed in that direction. She hesitated when she found Hiccup's door, not exactly knowing what she would see, none too eager to find out, either.

So, she took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.


	12. Chapter 12

**This is my SEVENTH update today. I know, maybe it's too much, but I can't stop myself. I just see a story and I just have to...update it. Haha. **

**Now, before you continue, PLEASE READ THIS RIGHT NOW: I know, maybe Hiccup's injuries seem less severe then you would have imagined them to be, but it's been one week since the accident now, remember. So...yeah. :) **

**You know what? This is my first Modern fanfiction, and I really am liking it. Writing this is so...much...FUN. And I'm sorry about that last cliffhanger...I just couldn't help myself. :) Enjoy the chapter, shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: Yes, I like to think of Valka and Astrid as friends. I really love Valka. :) I think she's a great character. **

Astrid had only seen Hiccup sleeping twice; once naturally, once unnaturally. When he fell asleep watching a movie, and when he was knocked into a coma by a car accident.

When Astrid met the driver who ran that red light, she was going to make sure they paid for what they did. Go to jail for life, even; Astrid didn't care, just so long as they were brought to justice. And when Astrid finally got the courage to look at Hiccup, it was even more so.

He was wearing a red and grey short sleeved t-shirt that looked just barely too big for him. Of course, he was skinny, so the size he was wearing could have been the normal size for his age...why was Astrid suddenly thinking about that? She didn't know. He had an IV attatched to his right forearm, and a breathing tube up his nose. His glasses were gone. Right, Valka had said that they were smashed. Astrid completely understood that. Other than everything she took in, there wasn't much else Astrid found wrong.

Except his leg.

Right. One of his legs were missing.

She closed the door and silently moved over to the bedside. His eyes were closed, his breathing steady, and for just a moment, Astrid imagined he was only sleeping, not in a serious coma. But, of course, there was no such luck.

"Hiccup," she said, "you...you need to wake up. Please wake up. We miss you. Toothless barely eats anymore. He won't stop looking for you around the house, and...well, Hiccup, I need you to wake up. I _need _you to wake up. Your Mom needs you to wake up. It just...it hasn't been the same without you, you know, and...I don't even know if you can hear me or not. You...you add color, everywhere you go, and no one will ever tell me otherwise. I need you to wake up, so then at least I know that you are okay, and that everything will work out. So..._there_. You need to wake up. You have to wake up. You will wake up. I just...don't know when."

There was no response whatsoever. She felt tears sting her eyes, but she pushed them back. She moved a chair over to the bedside and took a seat, waiting, silently pleading for her friend to just do something as simple as open his eyes. That's all she wanted. All she wanted was for Hiccup to open his eyes, to tell her that he was okay. She needed to know. She needed to know he would live. She needed to know he would wake up.

But the thing was, no one knew if he would or not. Not even the doctors knew for sure either way. Valka was scared, and so was Astrid. She couldn't lose Hiccup. No, not yet. Not when everything was finally going smoothly. Not when Hiccup had finally gotten used to his new home. Not when Astrid had finally learned more about him. Not when they had became good friends. Best friends. Possibly even more than that.

She stayed there for hours, until she finally decided to stop keeping track.

"Please wake up," said Astrid. "You...we need you to wake up. It hasn't been the same, for anyone." She looked back at him, and then closed her eyes for just a moment.

...

"Astrid," the girl felt someone shaking her awake. She sat up groggily and looked around, blinking a few times to clear her blurry vision. Valka was shaking her shoulder slightly, her deep emerald eyes shining with worry.

"Valka?" Astrid asked. "Where...oh." Right. She was in the hospital. Her memory came flooding back like a slap in the face. She remembered everything instantly, although she desperately tried not to.

Valka nodded. "It took longer than I expected it to," she said. "To get his glasses, I mean. But at least I got them, so when he wakes up, he'll have them. You fell asleep."

"Yeah, I think I did," said Astrid. "Sorry." She got to her feet and sighed, looking back at the boy in the hospital bed. "Has anything changed since I fell asleep?" she asked.

Valka shook her head. "No," she said regretfully. "Nothing."

"Oh," said Astrid. Just as she spoke, her phone rang. Astrid took it out of her pocket, and then realized it was her mother. "Um...I'm just going to step outside for a minute," she said, walking towards the door. She answered the phone once in the hallway and spoke softly. "Mom?"

"Astrid!" the woman on the other line exclaimed. "Where have you been!? You know how worried you make me!? Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital," said Astrid.

"WHAT!?" said her mother. "What happened!?"

"No, not _me_," said Astrid. "I'm not checked in. I finally got a chance to visit Hadley."

"You could _at least _tell me where you're going before you go!" said her mother. "You had me scared half to death, Astrid Rose Hofferson."

"Please, don't use the full name, it just wastes time," said Astrid. "I'll be home in a few minutes."

"I'm coming to pick you up," said her mother. "Wait in the lobby for me."

"Yes ma'am," said Astrid. Then, the call was ended. Astrid sighed and put her phone into her back pocket before reentering the room.

"I have to...um...go," said Astrid. "Do you think I could come back tomorrow, maybe?"

Valka nodded. "Of course," she said.

"Thanks," said Astrid. "I'll be back." Then, she turned and headed back through the hospital, to the lobby, where she was picked up by her mother and driven back to their neighborhood.

Astrid realized that she had left Tuff's bike there.

Great. So, the next day, she would be walking.


	13. Chapter 13

**OKAY, so this is my EIGHTH update today. Phew, a lot of writing. :) It's late, and I'm half-asleep, so I'll do shout-outs the next chapter, since I don't want any of them to come out sounding really weird. :) So, see you all next update! :D **

The next day, Astrid made sure her mother knew where she was going, and that it was okay to go. Her mother was working late at the pawn shop again. So, after making sure it was alright, Astrid left, first to the Haddock residence to feed Toothless and Sharpshot, and then to the hospital afterwards. That was her plan.

So, she went to the Haddock abode, Hiccup's cat and lizard, and then went to the hospital. She had to walk, since Tuff's bike was there, and she figured he would want it back sometime. So, she walked.

On her way, she passed the ice cream parlor. She stopped in front of it, remembering the day she and Hiccup had introduced their pets to each other. Astrid found herself feelings lightly sorry for Stormfly. Since Hiccup was hit by that car, the only time she spent with her parrot was early morning, late night, and whenever Astrid fed and watered her.

Sighing, she continued on, only to pass the pizza parlor. After remembering the times spent there, she went on again, only to pass the movie theatre. Astrid felt awful. Everywhere she looked, she saw Hiccup. She thought about him with every turn she made.

So, she went to the hospital. She set Tuff's bike up against a tree, not because she wanted to, per say, but because she felt the need to. She was a person who was borrowing it. She wasn't a person who was _owning_ it.

She walked into the main lobby, and after getting "Okay-ed" by the desk clerk, walked up to Hiccup's room. She pushed the door open, and walked inside. Nothing had changed; he was still dead to the world. Valka sat at a chair placed by the bedside, staring into Hiccup's closed eyes, her hand resting on his.

"Morning, Valka," said Astrid, cutting off the "good" in it. It wasn't a good morning for either of them, and she knew it.

"You too," said Valka. She sighed. "Astrid, I need to...I need to tell you something," she said, standing and approaching the girl.

"Well, sure," said Astrid. "What is it?"

"Well..." Valka hesitated, and it became clear to Astrid she wasn't quite ready to say what she was about to speak. "You're Hiccup's closest friend, and I...I found it right to tell you a few things the doctors told me."

Astrid took a small step back. "I-I'm listening," she stuttered.

"He had a slight concussion," said Valka. "It's part way healed now, maybe give or take another week or two, but the doctors told me that it's possible he suffered severe brain damage."

"Wh...what?" said Astrid.

"They said he could have amnesia if he wakes up," said Valka. "Sorry, I meant _when _he wakes up," she quickly corrected herself. "Or, he could go mentally insane. The doctors have seen people with head injuries less severe than Hiccup's that have suffered such consequences. There's...there's no way to _really _know...until he wakes up..."

"Don't worry, Valka," said Astrid. "Hiccup is the strongest person I know. He'll be okay. He'll be okay." She didn't know if she was saying it to herself, or Valka.

She stayed at Hiccup's room until night came. Then, she left, telling Valka that she would be back the next day, and then got on Tuffnut's bike, and went back to her own house. After returning the bike to the Thorstons, she tried to stop thinking about the one thing her mind kept drifting to.

_Brain damage. Amnesia. Mentally insane. _

The next day, same thing happened; checked with her mother, fed Hiccup's pets, went to the hospital, and returned home when it became late. The next day; same thing. Same thing over and over for another week.

Two weeks since he had been hit by that car. And all the while, Hiccup didn't wake up.

According to Valka, the majority of Hiccup's injuries were healing while he was in his coma. But really, they needed to know if he would wake up before they could give off any real positive information. It didn't help Astrid one bit. Nothing they were saying really mattered much until he awakened.

Two weeks. That's how long he was unconscious. Another week passed with the same schedule as the previous days. Nearly one month since the accident. Why wasn't he awake?

On the twenty first day since the incident, Astrid went to visit him again. After walking into his room, she realized that Valka wasn't there. Well, she was probably home showering; Astrid realized that every other few days, Valka would leave to get some more clothes for herself at her house, shower, and then come right back.

This was one of those days.

Nothing was very different, only his oxygen tube was gone. Right. Valka had told her that his injuries were healing the while he was unconscious. But none of it even mattered if he didn't wake up.

Astrid, quite literally, slapped herself in the face - hard. _Stop it! _she mentally scolded. _Stop being so negative! He'll wake up! You promised Valka he would! Stop telling yourself otherwise! _

She sat on the vacant chair parked by the hospital bed and sighed, averting her gaze to her feet as if they were suddenly very interesting.

"You..." she said to Hiccup, although she still wasn't looking at him, "you _will _wake up...won't you?" She turned her head and refocused her gaze. Nothing. Nothing yet at all. "Please," said Astrid. "I need you to wake up. I need you to just do something as simple as...open your eyes. Smile. Do something, to tell me at least that you will be okay. Can you...can you do that?"

She closed her eyes and felt tears wet her face. Why wasn't she there when the accident had happened? She should have been there...maybe she could have prevented it.

"I think I can..." a voice suddenly whispered.

Astrid's head whipped up, and she shrieked in joy.


	14. Chapter 14

**This is my FIRST update today, and definitely not my last. Sorry for the no shout-outs that last chapter. So, I'm giving some to you now. :) Shout-outs: **

**flowingcrane3: Yeah, poor guy. Thank you for your review! :D**

**xFaerieValkyriex: Yeah, comas are strange things. *shrugs* I think it's kind of crazy how your body can almost shut down and yet you're not dead. It's kind of strange. Yeah, I babble a lot. :D**

**silverwolvesarecool: YES and he woke up because he heard Astrid's voice and he loves her AAAH. :D**

**AnimeAngel: Haha! :D**

**Silver Electricity: Astrid's still after me!? RRRRRUUUUUUNNNN! I NEED COFFEE! *drinks all the coffee you gave me from all previous reviews and such* NOW I CAN FLEEEEEEEEE! YAY!**

**Wanli8970: Haha! Tell Flara I'm sorry. :)**

She couldn't help it. She launched herself forward and wrapped her arms around Hiccup, tears finally shoving past her lids, despite her attempts to keep them back. Hiccup tensed, but only for a second before he hugged her back.

"Three weeks..." Astrid mumbled. "You were in a coma for _three weeks_. I thought...I thought for a second that...you wouldn't...you wouldn't even wake up."

"Well...I'm awake," he said. Three weeks, though? Had it really been that long? "What happened?"

"You were hit by a car running a red light," said Astrid, pulling away from him. "Most of your body has already healed in the time you were unconscious."

"I guess that's good," said Hiccup. "What do you mean 'most'?"

"Well, I doubt you could be cured from being hit by a speeding vehicle in only three weeks, Hiccup," said Astrid. "That, and there is one major injur..." She cut herself off. No, she didn't want to be the one to tell Hiccup about his leg. She didn't want to see his reaction.

"One major what?" said Hiccup. Astrid mentally screamed at herself. This was it. She had to tell him now that she had him in suspicion. "Astrid, tell me," said Hiccup. She didn't respond. "What is it, Astrid!?" he demanded.

"You..." Before she could answer, her eyes fell on Hiccup's legs. Well, now it was _leg_, but that was really beside the point. Hiccup tossed the blanket off his lower body and gasped.

"What?" said Astrid. _Wow, that sounded dumb_, she thought to herself. _You couldn't have said something encouraging? _

Hiccup swallowed. "I don't have a leg," he said. "No, wait, I don't have a leg..."

"Hiccup?" said Astrid.

"I don't have a leg..." he repeated, his voice absence of emotion. "No, Astrid, I don't have a _leg_." His voice was growing slightly hysterical, and Astrid wasn't liking it one bit.

"Don't freak out," said Astrid. "Please don't freak out."

"Freak out!?" said Hiccup. "I don't freak out! I'm not freaking out! Are you freaking out!? No, I just...I don't have a leg...I don't...it's..._gone_." Astrid studied his face, and then realized he had tears falling from his eyes.

"It's gone..." he said.

Then, he pulled Astrid into a hug, and started crying into her shoulder. She didn't know what to do other than just hug him back.

"It's okay," said Astrid.

"No it's not," Hiccup sobbed. "It's not okay. It will never be okay."

He broke down into another round of sobbing, and Astrid felt herself panic. She hated seeing people cry; especially someone close to her. And seeing Hiccup cry just killed her.

"No, it's okay, buddy, don't cry, please," said Astrid.

He found he couldn't stop. He just couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. It was useless. He couldn't stop. Being hit by the car, waking up three weeks later only to learn that he didn't have a leg anymore had just been too much. And now, there was no stopping his falling tears.

"Nothing has changed," said Astrid. "It'll be the same as it was before."

"N-no it won't," said Hiccup, shaking his head. "No it won't. Everything's changed. Nothing's the _same_."

"Now you see here, Hadley Haddock," said Astrid, pulling him back and holding him by the shoulders. Hiccup waited for her to continue; she never used his real name unless she was serious about something. "I don't care if you have one leg or three," she said.

"I-I know..." said Hiccup. But did he really know? Would he ever be able to walk? Run? Hop? Skip? Would he even be able to _stand? _What did she mean when she said nothing has changed? "But why?"

"Because you're my _friend_," said Astrid. "And how many legs you have has nothing to do with it."

"Well..." said Hiccup, "that's good. I suppose..."

"Yeah," said Astrid. She snapped her fingers and stood up suddenly. "Your Mom'll be here in a little bit more than likely," she said. "She's been so worried about you, Hiccup. Well, so have I."

"Sorry I scared you all," said Hiccup.

"It's not your fault," said Astrid. "Wait a minute, I have an idea."

"What are you doing?" said Hiccup, watching as Astrid reached into her pocket.

"Do you want to give your Mother a surprise?" asked Astrid, holding her phone out for Hiccup to grab.

"Sure," said Hiccup. Three weeks without any conversation to his mother. Strange, it felt like it was just yesterday he was waving goodbye to her, watching her leave on the plane...

Wait a minute.

"I thought she was overseas," said Hiccup.

"As soon as Ruff called and told her about the accident, she came right back," said Astrid. "She was terrified. You wanna call her up now?"

Hiccup nodded and gently took Astrid's phone from her. As soon as he took it, he handed it back. "I can't really..._see _right now," he said. "I don't have my glasses."

"Oh, right," said Astrid. "Here." She took the new ones Valka had picked up two weeks ago and handed them to him. Hiccup put them on, and then took the phone again.

"It's under Valka Haddock," said Astrid.

"Okay, thanks," said Hiccup. He tapped in her name and then clicked "Call." He put it on speaker, and then listened to it ring with bated breath. It only rang one time before Valka picked up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey, Mom, it's Hiccup," said Hiccup.

There was a scream on the other line. "HICCUP!" she shouted. "YOU'RE AWAKE!"

Hiccup pulled the phone away, and then looked at Astrid's satisfied expression.

"Yeah, I'm awake," he said.

"Hiccup!" she shouted again. "You're...you're AWAKE! AAAAHHH!"

"Um...yeah," said Hiccup. "Where are-"

"I'm in the car, right now, on my way over," said Valka excitedly. "You're awake..." Hiccup heard a motor start in the background. "How are you doing, Hiccup?" Valka asked over the phone.

"Better than expected," Hiccup answered. "I've missed you."

"Me too," said Valka over the line. "I'll be there in a few minutes." There was a shriek of joy just before the call was ended. Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other, and then laughed.

"See?" said Astrid. "I told you she was worried."

Hiccup smirked. "And now she's probably breaking speed records," he said.


	15. Chapter 15

**This is my SECOND update today, you guys are so awesome. :) Shout-outs: **

**HiccupHaddockIII: Thanks for all your awesome reviews! I agree with what you said about Astrid. She is still rather violent, but yes, she has learned that there are different ways to communicate than punches and stuff. :) **

**Guest: Thanks for reviewing! It really makes my day! :D And I'm glad you like all my stories so much. It means a lot to me to hear. :) THANKS! :D **

It took a tremendously short amount of time for Valka to get there. As soon as she burst into the room, without hesitation, she raced forward and threw her arms around her son. Hiccup hugged her back before they both pulled away and stared into each others eyes.

"Oh Hiccup," said Valka. She laughed softly, tears in her eyes. "I was so worried."

"Three weeks," said Hiccup. "That's really how long ago it was?"

"Yes," said Valka. "You scared nearly everyone you know."

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Hiccup. _Don't think about your leg, don't think about your leg, don't think about your leg, _he told himself over and over and over again, not that it helped.

"Um...what about my leg?" he said, and instantly wished he hadn't. _Nailed it, Hiccup_, he slapped himself mentally. _Absolutely nailed it. _

Astrid and Valka didn't seem to mind.

"We've already constructed a prosthetic for you while you were out," said Valka. "It's ready when you are. Oh, speaking of which, I should probably go tell your doctor that you're awake. He'll like to look you over a bit."

Hiccup nodded as his mother stood and left the room. Hiccup turned back to Astrid.

"What?" he said.

"Oh nothing," she said. "You know Hiccup, since you've already pretty much healed in the time you've been unconscious, they might let you out in another week or so."

"That'd be nice," said Hiccup. "I'm not too big a fan of being bedridden."

"Is anyone?" said Astrid.

Another second later, before Hiccup could reply, Valka reentered the room, followed by a tall, slender looking man with a name tag that read "Dr. Gavin."

"Hello, Hadley," he said. "It's really good to see you awake."

"Well, it's good to be awake," said Hiccup, shrugging.

"How do you feel as a whole?" Dr. Gavin asked. "Does anything feel especially strange?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Not really," he said.

"Good," said Dr. Gavin. "He lost a lot of weight during his unconscious state," Dr. Gavin said to Valka, turning in her direction. "We'll have to put him on a strict weight gaining diet."

"I could be wrong, but normally, you go on diets to lose weight," Astrid whispered to Hiccup, trying to cheer him up.

"Oh, shh," Hiccup whispered back with a half-smile, pushing her away playfully.

Valka nodded, her eyes moving from Hiccup to Dr. Gavin, back and forth, in a constant manner.

"I would like to keep him checked in the hospital for another week just to make sure everything's alright," said Dr. Gavin, scribbling on his clipboard for a few seconds. "If you like, we could try out the prosthetic as soon as you want."

Valka nodded. "What do you think, Hiccup?" she said.

"Hmm?" said Hiccup. "Oh...um...well, the sooner the better, I guess. If I'm going to be living with it for the rest of my life, I might as well get used to it."

"Good boy," said Dr. Gavin. He flipped a few pages back on his clipboard and then made for the door. "Well, I'll tell them you're ready, and we'll see how it all works out. Alright?"

"Sounds good," said Valka. "Thank you."

Dr. Gavin smiled, turned the door knob, and then left the room, all in one motion. As soon as he was gone, both Astrid and Valka turned their attention to Hiccup.

"Are you _really _ready for this, Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"Nope," Hiccup frowned with a shake of his head. "I can't say that I am."

...

Hiccup glared at the piece of metal they were trying to make his left leg. They had brought it in only five minutes ago, and so far, all he did was stare at it.

"Um..." The first thing said in five minutes, said by Astrid, who was twiddling her thumbs nervously, trying to think of something to say. "So...are you...um...ready to try it out?"

Hiccup wasn't ready. No, he most certainly was _NOT _ready for this. He was perfectly fine with having one leg.

...Well, okay, no he wasn't, but there wasn't much he could have done about it. It wasn't like it was his fault, or anything. It was that car. No, not even the car. The _driver_.

"Um...yeah, yeah, I'm ready," Hiccup lied. He reached down, and started strapping on his prosthetic. He hated the way it felt, but it wasn't like he had the choice. "Okay, are we done now?" he asked.

"Not quite," said Valka.

Hiccup groaned, and pushed himself off the bed, shifting all his weight to his right side. He still wobbled uneasily, but that could have meant near anything. He could have just been wobbling because this was the first time he had actually stood up in three weeks. That could have meant something. Or, maybe it was just him.

"I'm not ready for this..." Hiccup mumbled.

"I know," said Valka gently, trying to find the words to say. "But if you're not ready now, what will make you more ready later?"

She had a point. Hiccup hated it when she had a point.

So, he swung his left leg forward and stepped down. It was actually easier said than done. He only put weight on it for a second before bringing his right leg right up next to it to finish the step.

"Done," said Hiccup.

"One more," said Astrid.

"_Come on_," Hiccup groaned. "You have no idea what I'm going through."

Hiccup had a point. Astrid hated it when he had a point.

So, he took another step forward. The second one was easier than the first; of course, his leg had probably healed in the time he was unconscious. This was weird. He was hurt, but at the same time, he wasn't.

Confusing much?

"Yay!" Astrid clapped. "Not too bad!"

"Well, thanks," said Hiccup. "It might take a while to get used to."

"It will," said Valka. "But we'll help you through it."

Hiccup smiled. Maybe walking with one leg wasn't going to be so hard after all.


	16. Chapter 16

**This is my THIRD update today, I believe. Shout-outs: **

**Wanli8970: Yep, I am still up for Seaworthy. You might have to tell me a summary of Flara again, though. You gave it to be before, but I kind of forgot where to find it. Sorry. But YES, I am still up for it, I just am not so sure where to go with it yet, so it might be a few stories away. Sorry about that, I know you've been waiting a while, but I don't want to rush it. Because if I do, it won't be as good as it would be if I took my time on it and did it right. Thanks! So...if you could give me the summary for Flara once more, that would be great. :D**

**AnimeAngel: I think we would all like to have at that car driver. :)**

**silverwolvesarecool: Thanks for your review! Yeah, poor Hiccup. I feel bad for him, but hey, he has Astrid to help him along. :D **

**Guest: Thank you! You know, I get inspiration from all the reviews I get, and yours (and lots of others) have just made my day. Thanks a ton! :D **

**HiccupHaddockIII: Yes, it makes sense. I think...haha. You know, it does, actually. 'Cause no one acts more hiccupy then Hiccup H. Haddock. :D Love your username, by the way. :D **

"I for one don't like hospital food," said Astrid. "But you seem to love it."

"I don't really love it, Astrid," said Hiccup. "I'm just starving."

"Makes sense why you would be," said Valka. "You haven't actually eaten anything in three weeks. That IV's been the only thing keeping you alive."

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "It's nice to be actually eating again."

"I'm sure it is," said Valka. "The doctors say you're doing nicely. In a few more days, they're going to release you."

"Great!" said Hiccup. "Then, we can get some _real _food!"

"And get you a new guitar," said Valka. "From what Astrid told me, it was pretty beat up."

"You should have seen it, Hiccup," said Astrid. "Ruff managed to drag it off, and she showed it to me a few weeks ago...and _man_, it takes _talent _to mess a guitar up that bad."

Hiccup actually laughed. "Did it lose a leg?" said Hiccup.

"Oh shut up," Astrid laughed, shoving him gently. "It didn't lose its leg. It broke its neck."

"Was that a musical joke?" said Hiccup.

"You bet it was a musical joke," said Astrid. "I learned it from the worst." She punched his shoulder lightly.

"Oh wait!" said Hiccup. "I've got a joke."

"Oh no," Astrid groaned.

"Okay," said Hiccup. "Here goes; A paradox to some, three little letters. The worse it is, the better it seems. What is it?"

"Um...reality?" said Valka. "Oh, wait, that's not three letters. Um..."

"Any ideas, Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"A guitar?" said Astrid.

"Hardy har har," said Hiccup. "No, it's not anything having to do with music. Plus, it's three letters, remember?"

"Um...I don't know," said Astrid.

"I give up," said Valka, throwing her hands up in surrender.

"It's a pun!" said Hiccup.

Astrid groaned while Hiccup laughed. Valka facepalmed.

"Ooooh no," said Valka.

"Get it?" Hiccup said, barely able to get the words out he was laughing so hard. "It's a pun!"

"Yes, yes, we get it, Hiccup," said Valka.

"That's why we're not laughing," said Astrid.

"Fine, fine, whatever," said Hiccup. "So...pizza?"

"What?" said Astrid.

"Real food," said Hiccup. "Pizza."

"Oh, yeah," said Astrid. "Pizza."

"Great," said Hiccup. "Can't wait."

...

"So, you have my number and everything."

"Yes."

"Make sure you do."

"I do, Mom."

"Call me every hour."

"Okay, got it."

"When you do, I want your location, and how you're doing."

"Okay, Mom."

"And if you don't call me, I'm calling 911 and getting an ambulance to go check on you."

"Mom!"  
>Astrid laughed at Hiccup and Valka's exchange. It had been one week since Hiccup was discharged from the hospital, yet his mother couldn't keep her eye off him.<p>

"I'm just being protective," said Valka.

"You don't have to," said Hiccup. "I'm fine now."

"You were hit by a car," said Valka. "You can't quite expect me to believe that you're fine. What if something happens when I'm gone?"

"I have Astrid," said Hiccup, "who, I might add, will not let me out of her sight, probably for the rest of my life."

"You bet," said Astrid.

"But Mom, you haven't been to work in over a month," said Hiccup. "You have to. You're a big part of your company."

"I know," said Valka. "But you're an even bigger part of my life."

"But I'm okay," said Hiccup. "You go on ahead, and I'll call you every hour."

"Well...okay," said Valka. "Set an alarm on your phone so you don't forget."

"Got it," said Hiccup, whipping out his phone to do just that. He saved the alarm and then shoved it back into his jean pocket. "Okay, you can go on now. Don't worry about me."

"But I do," said Valka.

"_Mom_," said Hiccup. "It'll be _fine_."

"Well...okay," said Valka. "I'll talk to you in an hour."

"Okay, talk to you then," said Hiccup. "Bye."

Valka hailed a taxi, and then left for her job. Since the incident with Hiccup and the car, she hadn't wanted to leave the area. So, she found a way to work over a computer at the local office. It was harder and more time consuming, but she didn't want to be farther away from her son then she had to be.

"So," said Astrid, "pizza?"

"You're on," said Hiccup.

They walked to the parlor. Hiccup was getting better and better at using his prosthetic. He could walk without much of a problem, but doing other things such as running would take a lot longer to get used to.

Hiccup and Astrid split the cost and both paid for it. Then, they sat outside while they ate.

"How did Toothless react to seeing you again?" Astrid asked. "You haven't really told me yet."

"Crazy cat went _absolutely_ bonkers," said Hiccup, twirling his index fingers around his temples. "So, I guess you could say he was rather thrilled."

Astrid laughed. "Did you ever get a new guitar?" she asked.

"We're workin' on it," said Hiccup, making a seesaw motion with one of his hands. "Ish. Ruff's letting me borrow her guitar until I get a new one."

"That's nice," said Astrid.

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "And she showed me my old one..." He shuddered. "It was even more beat up then _I _was. There's no fixing that thing, which is kind of a bummer, since I really kind of liked that guitar."

"Yeah, I'm sorry," said Astrid.

"No, no, it's not your fault," said Hiccup. "There was nothing you could have done about it. And if you could have, you would have. I know you would have-"

"Not just about the guitar," said Astrid, "but everything. I should have been there. Maybe I could have prevented it."

"Well, you weren't there, and it wasn't prevented," Hiccup shrugged as he spoke. "Let's just live in the present." He paused. "How's Stormfly doing?" he asked.

"Pretty good," Astrid nodded. "Except, my cousins are coming out to visit next week, and she really kind of hates them."

Hiccup laughed. "Define 'hates them'?" He asked.

"Well," said Astrid, "she follows them around, mimics everything they say in different pitches at different times...of course, she's been trained not to actually _hurt _anybody, but still. She's annoying when she wants to be."

"Aren't we all?" said Hiccup.

Astrid flung her plastic spoon at him. He ducked.

"Okay, okay, I get it," said Hiccup. "So...your cousins."

"Yep," said Astrid.

"Who are they?" he asked.

"A girl named Camicazi," said Astrid, "and then another girl named Heather."

**Just so everyone knows, no, there will not be any drama between Heather, Hiccup, Camicazi and Astrid. Just to clarify. And I just wanted to say that with the pun scene where Hiccup told Valka and Astrid the joke, I based that off me and my family members. I tell a joke, someone groans, someone else facepalms, and then everyone else stares at me like I sprouted horns, haha. :D BYE! **


	17. Chapter 17

**This is my FIRST update today, and sorry it took me so long. I was planning on posting it yesterday, but I just got kind of hung up on other things, and I'm sorry. :) This chapter is going to be fun. I LOVE writing about a Modern HTTYD. It's fun. :D Enjoy the chapter! Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: I tell awkward jokes all the time without hardly even thinking about it. :)**

**flame: Thanks for the review, they mean a lot to me! :D**

**Silver Electricity: FOR SPARTA AND FOR NARNIA AND FOR COFFFFEEEE! THAAAANNNK YOOOOU! :D :D :D **

**xFaerieValkyriex: I think I'm the Camicazi in my group; crazy, yet at the same time, perfectly sane. :D **

**Wanli8970: Haha! Thanks for Flara's info! I'm going to have to work on Seaworthy sometime soon! After I get my other ideas out, that is, because I don't want to rush it and ruin it. :) **

**HiccupHaddockIII: I guess so. In most the books I read (Lord of the Rings, Marry Poppins, etc) they always use "said so-in-so" with the "said" before the name. I kind of go back and forth sometimes. :D Thanks for the review! **

**AnimeAngel: PIZZA! I'm actually not _too _big a fan of pizza, but I like it occasionally. Sometimes. Depending on how hungry I am. :D **

On their way back to their houses, Hiccup's alarm went off. He took out his phone, and then called his mother.

"Hey, Mom," said Hiccup.

"Hey, Hiccup," said Valka over the phone. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," said Hiccup. "I'm with Astrid. We're in our neighborhood."

"Okay, good," said Valka. "Be careful."

"I am, and I will be," said Hiccup. "I'll talk to you in another hour."

"Okay," said Valka. "Bye."

"Bye," said Hiccup. He hung up, and then slipped the phone back into his pocket. "So..." he turned and looked at Astrid as he spoke, "what should we do?"

"I was thinking we could play truth or dare," said Astrid.

"Oh no," said Hiccup. "I have a love-hate relationship with this game."

"Then let's play," said Astrid. "You go first."

"No, you go first," said Hiccup.  
>Astrid grinned mischievously. "Okay," she said. "Truth or dare?"<p>

"Dare," said Hiccup. "Truths are no fun."  
>"You have a point," Astrid said suspiciously. "Okay, I dare you to do the cinnamon challenge!"<p>

"WHAT!?" Hiccup jumped backwards.

"You heard me!" said Astrid.

"I think you're trying to _kill _me!" said Hiccup. "Give the one-legged guy a break!"

"Hmmm," said Astrid, tapping her chin, as if in deep thought. "Nope. Cinnamon challenge. Now."

"Aw come on," Hiccup groaned.

"I have a ton of cinnamon at my house," said Astrid. "Follow me."

"If I die," said Hiccup, "I want you to tell my family I loved them."

"You won't die," said Astrid. She raced into her kitchen and came back with an entire tub of cinnamon, and a spoon. She handed them both to Hiccup, and he frowned.

"You have to do it after me," he said. "That's the one condition."

"Fine!" said Astrid. "Just do yours first!"

Hiccup sighed and set the tub down on the counter, scooping a small amount of cinnamon on his spoon.

"No, there's not enough on that thing," said Astrid, shaking her head. "Like this." She took it from him, and then scooped a _ton _of cinnamon onto it. Hiccup gasped.

"You _are_ trying to kill me!" he shouted.

"Oh hush," she said. "Just do it and get it over with. Remember, _you _were the one who took the dare!"

"You didn't _tell me _you were going to kill me!" said Hiccup.

"Just get it over with already!" said Astrid. "I'm _waiting!" _

He took the spoon from her, and shoved the cinnamon in his mouth. He handed the spoon back to Astrid and paused. Then, he started coughing.

"Oh good...grief..." He made out. Astrid laughed. "WHY...WOULD YOU..._DO _THAT!?" he shouted. "What are you...oh this is _AWFUL_..." He coughed and gagged. Astrid laughed even harder. "STOP...*cough*...LAUGHING!"

"Okay, okay, sorry," said Astrid, handing him a water bottle. He chugged down half of it in one breath and then set it back down on the kitchen counter. He glared at Astrid.

"Your turn," he said.

Astrid's eyes widened, her smile disappearing. "Oh no."

"Oh _yes_," said Hiccup. He got her another spoon, scooped up the same amount of cinnamon she had given him (and quite possibly giving her more). Then, he sat back and watched.

"Who's trying to kill who now?" said Astrid.

"Not me," said Hiccup, "so get it over with."

"Ah, you just overreacted," she said. "This is going to be _easy_." She stuffed it into her mouth, and then instantly gagged. "What...in the...world!?" She coughed.

Hiccup smirked. "That's right," he said. "Feel my pain."

"Oh...my goodness..." Astrid choked. "Don't just stand there!" she shouted. "DO SOMETHING!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" said Hiccup. He ran, and then came back with a bottle of water. Astrid drank some, and then set it back down on the counter.

"Okay then!" said Hiccup. "It's my turn! Truth or dare, Astrid?"

"Dare," said Astrid.

"_Good_," said Hiccup, and evil smile flashing on his face. "I dare you to dump a bucket of ice water over your head!"

"What!?" said Astrid. "Hiccup, it's in the middle of winter!"

"Yeah I know!" said Hiccup.

"It's _SNOWING_!" said Astrid.

"Isn't it _GREAT_?" said Hiccup.

Astrid grumbled under her breath, yet complied. She walked outside, Hiccup following intently, and then filled a five-gallon bucket up with water at the pump. Hiccup ran back inside her house and came out with two ice cube trays. He dumped the ice in, and set the trays aside.

"Ready, Astrid?" said Hiccup. "Go for it."

She nodded and reached down, picking up the bucket. Then, she flipped it and dumped it over her head.

She gasped and dropped the bucket once its contents were coating her thoroughly. Hiccup laughed at her expression, until she glared.

"My turn," said Astrid. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," said Hiccup.

"Aww come on!" Astrid complained. "I wanted you to do a dare!"

"Truth," Hiccup repeated.

"Okay," said Astrid. "Have you ever blamed someone else for something you did?"

"Does the cat count?" said Hiccup. "Because I blamed Toothless for tracking mud in the house, and then realized that I was the one who did it. And so I apologized to him and stuff. Okay, my turn."

"But my turn was no fun!" said Astrid.

"Oh don't worry," said Hiccup, a mischievous grin flashing on his face. "You will have some fun. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," said Astrid.

"Okay," said Hiccup. "I dare you to inhale helium and then read Romeo And Juliet."

"Okay," said Astrid.

"Without laughing," said Hiccup.

"Oookay," said Astrid. "Let's get this over with."

A few minutes later finds Astrid holding a helium balloon, holding the air in by pinching the airway with her fingers. Hiccup watched her, smiling.

"Okay," said Astrid, picking up a piece of paper that had the play written on it. She sucked in some helium, and then read, "'Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; Whose misadventured piteous overthrows do with their death bury their parents' strife. The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, and the continuance of their parents' rage, which, but their children's end, nought could remove, is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, what here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.'"

She said it with a straight face while Hiccup laughed his head off at her high pitched voice.

"Quit laughing!" she shouted, but the helium effect was still active. Hiccup laughed even harder at her squeak of a voice.

"My turn," said Astrid. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Hiccup laughed.

"Okay," said Astrid. "The next time your alarm goes off for you to call your mother, answer her after inhaling a bunch of helium."

Hiccup gasped. As if on cue, his alarm went off. Astrid smirked and handed him another balloon.

"Have fun," she smiled.


	18. Chapter 18

**As much as I really hate to say this, I might have to start doing one or two or three updates a day from now on, since I feel like I've been rushing everything I post recently. I don't want to rush anything; I want to take my time on it so it actually feels like a good story. I'm sorry, but you guys are so awesome, and I don't want to give any half-hearted word or anything that took me half-hour to write. So, I'm sorry about that. I'll try for three updates a day. :) Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: HAHAHAHAHAHA! Hot sauce in the soda? Oh good grief. I would be so mad. XD. I would be, really, and probably plot revenge when they least expect it. :) **

**HiccupHaddockIII: YES I love seeing Hiccup and Astrid's mischievously clever sides. We don't see them very often. :D **

**Silver Electricity: FOR SPARTA! FOR COFFEE! FOR NARNIA! FOR MOM AND APPLE PIE FOR DA WWWWIIIIINNNN! COOOOOFFFEEEE! :D :D :D**

**Wanli8970: Yes, I do think it is quite ironic. :) Hearing all about her makes me want to write Seaworthy even sooner than I planned to! She sounds like such an awesome character. And thanks for letting me use her, too. :D **

**Tvd-Fan-Forever: Thanks! :D **

**AnimeAngel: I've thought about writing a sequel for it. It's my longest story, and quite possibly one of my favorites. Of course, "Remember Me" is my very favorite. After I finish the rest of the stories I'm working on, I'll have to work on something for "To Help Your Leader", because I really enjoyed writing that story,l and kind of miss it. :) Thanks for all your reviews! Does Aquaria like pizza, too? **

C**rackedCrow: DARN *smacks forehead* I knew there was something there I was missing! :D Maybe I'll re-do that chapter sometime. Thanks for letting me know, and thanks for the review! :D **

**Jesusfreak: YES I used your joke in it. :D Thanks for that! And yeah, my family's always facepalming and groaning and just moaning "Haaaaannnnnaaaaahhh!" whenever I do anything like that, haha. But I love puns. :D **

**reconghost5: Thanks for the review! :D **

**xFaerieValkyriex: Haha! That is a great idea. I've never actually inhaled helium before from what I remember, but I want to! :D Some of my friends did once, and I couldn't stop laughing. :D **

The phone rang only once before Valka picked up. Hiccup had already inhaled helium as Astrid had commanded, and now waited, hoping it would wear off before he had to use his voice.

"Hey, Hiccup," said Valka over the line. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," said Hiccup. He mentally smacked himself in the face for the high pitched tone the helium made his voice.

"Oh my goodness, Hiccup!" Valka exclaimed. Oh, and that was another thing; Astrid had made him go on speaker phone, so she could hear Valka's reaction. Astrid laughed, barely able to contain herself.

"You don't sound fine at all!" said Valka. "What happened!?"

"Someone..." said Hiccup after sucking in another mouthful of helium only because Astrid told him that he needed to keep his voice high, "who shall be nameless..." He shot Astrid a look, "made me inhale helium before calling you."

"Oh," Valka laughed. "Well, don't do it again. You really had me worried for a second there, Hiccup."

"I won't do it again," said Hiccup, his voice still two octaves higher than usual. "Bye."

"Bye," said Valka. Just before the call was ended, Hiccup was certain he had heard laughter in the background. Hiccup put his phone back in his pocket and looked at Astrid, the helium finally wearing off.

"Can I go bury myself in a hole and die now?" he asked.

Astrid laughed. "Nope," she said. "It's your turn."

"We should probably stop before it gets too..._desperate_," said Hiccup. "Do you agree?"

"I can't say that I don't," said Astrid, "because I do."

"Good," said Hiccup. "Phew. Glad that's over." He paused. "And...um...Astrid..." He hesitated. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Yeah, me too," said Astrid.

"You go first," said Hiccup.

"No, you go first," said Astrid.

"Okay," Hiccup pulled out his phone, and after searching through it a few times, turned it around and showed Astrid. He was in his picture library.

"I recorded all your dares," said Hiccup.

Astrid gasped. "What a coincidence," she said, pulling out her phone. "So did I!"

They both broke into hysterical laughter.

...

A week passed. Slowly but surely, Valka became less protective (she was still protective, don't get me wrong) of Hiccup. Astrid was hardly ever seen without him, too, except in early mornings and late nights.

One afternoon, Astrid was dragging Hiccup down the sidewalk. She had blindfolded him, telling him that she was going to give him a surprise.

"Look, Astrid," said Hiccup, "I know you're trying to act all mysterious and mystical, but could you at least tell me where you're taking me?"

"Nope," said Astrid. "We're almost there. You'll learn in just a few minutes."

So, she continued to drag him, until she came to their destination.

"We're here," said Astrid, taking off Hiccup's blindfold. He gasped.

"Why are we..."

"The music store!" Astrid interrupted. "Yep, the music store, that's right! I sent for a new guitar for you last week, and it finally got here!"

Hiccup turned to her. "You...did what?" he asked.

"You heard me!" Astrid grinned. "All we have to do is pick it up!"

"Astrid..." Hiccup started. "I-I can't accept this."

"Oh sure you can," said Astrid. "You've been one of the bestest friends to me the past month and a half, and this is the least I can do for you in return."

"Well...I don't know what to say, Astrid," said Hiccup. "Thanks."

"Well, let's go on in!" said Astrid. "I can't wait for you to see it!"

She grabbed his hand and yanked him inside. After stumbling and catching himself with a few more steps, he went with her. They waited in the longish/shortish line behind another boy with a bulldog. The bulldog was sitting at his side, looking very obedient and proper.

"Your dog is beautiful," said Astrid.

The boy turned around. "Thank you," he said. "Her name is Meatlung."

"Meatlung," said Hiccup. "Cute."

The bulldog turned around and grinned at the two youths.

"Thanks," said the boy. "My name is Fishlegs. And you are?"

"This is Astrid," said Hiccup. "And I'm Hadley, more commonly known as Hiccup."

"Okay," said Fishlegs. "Do you two have any pets?"

"I have a cat named Toothless, and a lizard named Sharpshot," said Hiccup.

"I have a parrot named Stormfly," said Astrid.

"Cool," said Fishlegs. "I love animals. Although I think I'm kind of a nerd for them. At least, people at school call me a nerd."

"Nothing's wrong with being a nerd," said Hiccup. He tapped his glasses. "I need these to see."

"Oh, really?" said Fishlegs. "I thought they were fake."

"Yeah," said Astrid. "That's what I thought too when I first met them. Fake hipster glasses are kind of in style nowadays. Lots of kids at school are wearing them."

"Where do you two go to school?" Fishlegs asked.

"My Mom homeschools me," said Hiccup.

"I go to Berk High," said Astrid. "Although my Mom's thinking about starting homeschooling next semester."

"Sweet," said Fishlegs. Then, it came his turn. He picked up some music books, and then headed off. Hiccup and Astrid stepped up to the counter.

"I have a reservation under Hofferson," said Astrid.

"Oh, right, Hofferson," said the clerk. "Let me go back real fast." He turned and went to the back of the store, and then returned with a guitar case. He opened it up and showed it to them. "Is this it?" he asked Astrid.

"Yep," said Astrid. Hiccup remained dumbfounded.

"Okay," said the clerk. "You pre-paid for it already, so here you go." He handed it to her, and she took it.

"Thanks," said Astrid. Then, she and Hiccup turned and left. As soon as they were outside, Astrid handed the guitar to Hiccup. He took it after a moment of silent hesitation and looked at it.

"This is amazing," said Hiccup. "Thank you, Astrid."

Astrid shrugged. "Consider it a gift," she said. "Your birthday is next week, isn't it?"

"Well...actually, yes, it is," said Hiccup. "One week and a half, more like."

"It doesn't matter," said Astrid. She sat down on one of the benches and motioned for Hiccup to do the same. "Well?" she said. "Play it!"

"Um...okay," said Hiccup. He unstrapped the case and took out the instrument. It was an acoustic guitar, and looked a lot like his old one. He got into position, and then played.


	19. Chapter 19

**I love cliffhangers. :) This is my SECOND update today, and if you didn't read the A/N for that last chapter I posted, I would suggest you read that. It's important. :) Thanks for being awesome, shout-outs: **

**Silver Electricity: Coffee coffee coffee coffeeeeeeeeeee. Cold cold cold cold cold. Cold coffee. EEW! HOT COFFEE FOR THE WIN! YAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAAAAAAY! Sorry, I'm crazy...:D And I know I'm crazy, too! NUTS! BONKERS! COFFE BONKERS! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! :D **

**TheLastNightFury: Thank you! I love seeing encouraging reviews such as that! I love your username, by the way. It's awesome. :D **

After playing guitar for a few minutes, he put his instrument away and looked at Astrid.

"Should we head back to your house?" Astrid asked. "Just so you could...I don't know...drop it off? Just so nothing happens to this new one?"

"Sure," said Hiccup. He rose to a stand, taking the cased guitar with him. "Ready?"

"Ready," said Astrid.

As they walked, they talked.

"You know, Astrid," said Hiccup, "you didn't have to do this."

"Do what?" Astrid asked.

"Buy me a guitar," said Hiccup. "You know it means a lot more to me than you can imagine."

"Yeah, but I wanted to do it," said Astrid. "So there you go."

"Yeah, well, maybe," said Hiccup. "Thanks, though. I love it. I think it may be even better than my old one."

"I'm glad you like it," said Astrid.

"I don't _like _it, I _love _it," said Hiccup. "And I just wish I could somehow repay you."

"You don't have to repay me, Hiccup," said Astrid. "It was an honor."

After Hiccup dropped the guitar off at his house, he and Astrid were walking back into town to get lunch. Suddenly, Hiccup got an idea.

"I have a tongue twister for you," said Hiccup.

"Oh boy," said Astrid. "Okay, what is it?"

Hiccup took a deep inhalation of air, and then said in the same breath: "Betty Botter bought some butter, 'But,' said she, 'this butter's bitter. If I bake this bitter butter, it will make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter - that would make my batter better.' So she bought a bit of butter, better than her bitter butter, and she baked it in her batter, and the batter was not bitter. So 'twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter." He looked at her and grinned. "Your turn," he said.

"Betty Botter bought a bicker bucker...biter butter...balar...binger ding dong...uh...UGH!" Astrid shouted. "I can't do it!"

Hiccup smiled.

"But now I have one for you," said Astrid. "This isn't a tongue twister as much as it just makes you think,"

"Okay, shoot," said Hiccup.

"I thought a thought," said Astrid. "But the thought I thought was not the thought I thought I thought."

Hiccup paused. "Wait...what!?" he said.

Astrid laughed. "Got another one?" she asked.

"Yes, actually, I do," he replied. "Mr. See owned a saw. And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw. Now See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw before Soar saw See, which made Soar sore. Had Soar seen See's saw before See sawed Soar's seesaw, See's saw would not have sawed Soar's seesaw. So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw but it was sad to see Soar so sore, just because See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw!"

"What in the world?" said Astrid.

Hiccup laughed.

Astrid heard her phone go off. Taking it out of her pocket, she looked at who was calling. It was her Mom. She quickly slid the screen to answer it, and then held the phone up to her ear.

"Hey, Mom," she said.  
>"Astrid!" said her mother. "Where are you? Your cousins are going to be here any minute!"<p>

"Oh no," said Astrid. "I forgot."

"Well, you better get over here fast!" said her mother.

"I-I will, thanks," said Astrid, and hang up.

"So..." said Hiccup, shrugging.

"My cousins are going to be getting here soon," said Astrid. "I have to go back and greet them. You're welcome to come if you want."

"Sure," said Hiccup. "That'd be great."

"They're a little crazy," said Astrid.

"I _love _crazy," said Hiccup. "When should we leave?"

"Right now," said Astrid. "You know, before they get there, preferably."

"Sounds great," said Hiccup. "Let's go."

He and Astrid were a little bit further into town, so walking back was going to take a little while. On their way back there, however, Hiccup suddenly froze.

Astrid didn't notice it at first, and continued walking. When she realized that Hiccup was no longer following, she turned around and looked at him. His face was pale, his eyes glued to an object across the street.

"Hiccup?" she said, walking back towards him. "What is it?"

"That...that car," said Hiccup, pointing to it. Astrid turned and saw where he was pointing. The car was parked in front of a very old, very rickety, rather evil looking, abandoned building. The car was a red convertible that looked out of place in front of the colorless house.

"What about it?" Astrid asked, now getting worried.

"That's..." said Hiccup. He swallowed. "That's the car that hit me."


	20. Chapter 20

**This is my FIRST update today. My e-mail isn't working again, so I'll have to do shout-outs in the chapter after this one. We're almost done with this take! And if some of you think I'm moving too fast...well...it's intentional. Maybe you might think it ends too...easy, but it's also intentional. I'm getting you guys ready for the sequel. :) See you the next update! :D **

Astrid stopped dead in any movement she could have been doing. The car that hit Hiccup. Maybe this would lead to an answer, somehow.

"What do we do?" Astrid whispered for no reason at all. She didn't know why she felt a sudden urge to whisper everything she spoke out loud. "Do you think the driver's nearby?"

"There's only one way to find out," said Hiccup, and started walking across the street, towards the house.

"Hiccup!" Astrid said in a harsh whisper, running after him after little hesitation. Hiccup didn't even turn around to look at her. "What are you thinking?"

"I need answers," said Hiccup. "And this is the only way to get them."

"Could we call the police?" said Astrid.

"If that's what it comes to," said Hiccup. "But we don't even know if the guy's here."

She followed him slowly down the alleyway next to the house, looking for something or someone. They turned around slowly, examining their surroundings.

"I don't see anything," Hiccup whispered.

Before Astrid could reply, something grabbed her. She tried to scream, but couldn't; something was covering her mouth, making sure any form of communication was impossible. Then, she was dragged backwards and into the back door of the house.

"We should probably head...Astrid?" said Hiccup, turning around and realizing she wasn't there. "Astrid!" he shouted. "Astrid where are you!?"

He spun around, but saw nothing. She was gone; vanished, as if into thin air. No. That wasn't possible. People just didn't _vanish_ like that. She must have been somewhere in the house.

Mind made up, Hiccup ran to the front of the house. The wood was decaying; he knew it wouldn't take much to break part of it down. Since he didn't know where a door was, and didn't have time to look for one, he stepped back, and then ran straight into the wall. The wood cracked; nothing else happened.

He did it again; ran, cracked the wood, this time, louder and more fervently. He did it once more, and then this time, the wood gave way under pressure. Hiccup tumbled inside, and then looked around. He didn't hear anything, until...

...There! The sound of someone kicking the floor, muffled screams and cries. Astrid. Something had happened to Astrid.

Hiccup looked; there was a stairwell. Slowly, to make sure he didn't make any extra noise, he made his way up.

...

Astrid struggled against the grip of the man that held her. She kicked and screamed even though it did no good. His hand was still covering her mouth, his other arm hooked around her body, pinning her arms at her sides.

Astrid struggled against his grip, but it did nothing at all. He dragged her up another flight of stairs and into a darkened room. It was musty and dusty and filthy; absolutely filthy. That's what it was. There was a stove with some pans on it in the corner, but that wasn't very important.

He threw Astrid to the ground, and then whipped out a knife. Astrid was just about to scream, when he shoved his hand over her mouth again.

"Scream," he said, "and I'll kill you."

Astrid was in no mood to be dead, so she kept her mouth closed while the stranger removed his hand.

"Good," he said. "Now listen closely, because I am only going to say this once. You are not supposed to be around here, kid. You know that?"

Astrid shook her head. Play dumb. That's what she needed to do. Just play dumb. And then maybe she could spring on him, knock the knife out of his hand, and call 911.

"You know it," said the man. "I know you do."

"Who are you?" said Astrid.

"If I tell you," he said, "I'll have to kill you." Then, he paused, and laughed maniacally. "Well, I'm going to kill you anyway, so it doesn't well matter now, does it?"

Astrid felt her blood freeze. Slowly, ever so slowly, she pulled out her phone, and started recording, making absolutely certain the man didn't catch her in the act.

"What is your name?" she said, making sure she was recording.

"My name?" he said. "My name is Dagur. I am a criminal, obviously. I mean...I hit a boy with my car weeks ago and didn't even think twice."

_Hiccup_. Astrid felt her body heat with rage. This man was the reason Hiccup would have to live his life with a prosthetic. But wait...this also meant that Dagur hadn't seen Hiccup in the alleyway, meaning he was safe...

Unless he came looking for her.

"You were the one who hit him, all those weeks ago," said Astrid.

"Yes," said Dagur. "Yes I was." He laughed. "See the reason I have to kill you? You know too much. Far too much, especially now. So..." He held his knife in his hand. "Shall we get the job done?"

He lifted the knife over his head, and got ready to bring it down. Astrid shielded her eyes. This was it. She was going to die.

But then, she heard a shout. She peaked through her eyes, just as Hiccup ran up the staircase. Dagur turned in his direction long enough for Astrid to save the recording.

"STOP!" Hiccup shouted. He ran over to the stove, grabbed a frying pan, and hurled it at Dagur. It smacked him right in the stomach, sending him tumbling to the ground a few feet away. The knife flew from his grip and clattered to the floor in front of him. Dagur pulled himself up and started reaching for his weapon.

Hiccup grabbed another cooking utility and raced forward. He whacked Dagur with his pan and kicked the knife away just as the man was about to grab it. Dagur growled in outrage and pulled himself to his feet. Then, he lunged.

Hiccup wasn't expecting it. Dagur slammed into him, and then both tumbled to the wooden floor, rolling over each other a couple times before stilling, Dagur coming in on top. After making sure Hiccup wasn't moving, Dagur stood up, grinning like a mentally insane person.

He turned around and faced Astrid.

"One down," said Dagur, "one to go."

Seeing Hiccup hurt was the final insult. She had been through so much good and bad that past month it was almost crazy, from the day she met Hiccup to now. But Hiccup was off-limits. No one was allowed to hurt Hiccup.

With renewed anger, Astrid grabbed a frying pan off the floor, and charged.


	21. Chapter 21

**OKAY so if anyone thinks I'm ending this too fast, it is TOTALLY intentional. I think there will be four more chapters after this one, but I'm not so sure. :) This is my SECOND update today, and I will possibly/probably do one more after this one. AND YAY MY EMAIL IS WORKING AGAIN! :D Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: HAHA! YES! MAKE HIM PAY! :D **

**Silver Electricity: YES MAKE DAGUR PAY! AND FOR PUNISHMENT HE WILL GET NO COFFEE! NO COFFEE FOR DAGUR, BUT HERE IS COFFEE FOR YOU! *gives you some* **

**xFaerieValkyriex: YOU GOT THIS, ASTRID! TAKE HIM DOWN! :D **

**TheLastNightFury: AAAH KILL DAGUR! SOMEONE KILL DAGUR! :D **

**AnimeAngel: DAGUR SHALL PAAAAAY! GO ANIMEANGEL! GO AQUARIA! *mounts Sparkglider and draws arrow in bow* Let's go! **

**Jesusfreak: Go Astrid! What team!? ASTRID! What team!? ASTRID! WHOOPWHOOP! :D **

**EVERYONE: HAVE SOME FREE VIRTUAL SODA! Some of you read without following, faving or reviewing. I know you're out there, and I want to thank you all. I see all the views I get on this story, and every day I nearly die with how many I have. It's not even that big of a number, yet I go crazy whenever I see it. No pressure about reviews or anything. Just reading is enough. :D And thank you to all who _DO _review, fav, follow and what not. You awesome readers (who review or don't review) make fanfiction worth writing. :D Thank you all! :D **

She ran forward and _whacked _him. She hit him so hard, he went stumbling backwards towards the window, catching himself against the sill. She hit him so hard, she was surprised he wasn't unconscious.

"You can do a lot of things," said Astrid, "but hurting my friend isn't one of them." She was terrified; absolutely terrified, but she knew she had to do it. She charged forward again and hit him with the frying pan once more. Dagur stumbled to the left, crashing onto the ground. But Astrid didn't stop. She hit his left temple as hard as she thought possible, and as soon as she did, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he was unconscious, just like that.

She felt a mix of emotions; two in particular. Anger. Dagur had been the one to hurt Hiccup. He was the reason for those four weeks Hiccup spent in the hospital, three of which he was unconscious for. He was the reason Hiccup had lost his leg. He was the reason Hiccup was lying on the floor, unconscious, a few feet away.

And then there was fear. Fear. Had she killed Dagur? She wouldn't have cared much if she had, but the fact that she could have possibly killed someone; an actual human being, whether or not he was a kind one; made her feel sick to her stomach. She knew he wasn't dead, but she could have well killed him. And then there was Hiccup...

She dropped her frying pan and ran to him, falling to her knees once she got to his side.

"Hiccup?" she said, grabbing his shoulder and turning him over as quickly, yet at the same time, as carefully as possible. His eyes were shut, his face pale. He was breathing, but his breaths were uneven and rather untrustworthy. She didn't know if they would continue, or stop. "Hiccup," she said again, shaking him, trying to get him to wake up, but to no avail. He didn't wake up. He didn't respond. He didn't move.

She was panicked. She fumbled awkwardly for her phone for just a few second, forgetting which pocket she put it in. Once she found it, she took it out, unlocked the screen, and then dialed 911.

"911: What's your emergency?" the operator spoke.

"There's an injured boy here," said Astrid, trying to find her voice. She was gasping for breath in her worry, and she was rising to a panic attack. "H-he's unconscious."

"How did this happen?" the operator asked.

"Someone knocked him unconscious," said Astrid. "A criminal, so we'll probably need the police. I-I have evidence, too," she added, recalling the recording she took.

"State your location," said the operator.

"Fallout Lane," said Astrid. "There's...there's a big house, very old looking. Parked in front of it is a red convertible. You...you can't miss it."

"Okay," said the operator. "Do you know what to do?"

"N-no," said Astrid. Now she was _definitely _rising to that panic attack. She didn't know what to do.

"Stay calm," said the operator. Calm? Stay _CALM!? _WHAT WAS CALM WHEN YOUR FRIEND IS LAYING IN FRONT OF YOU UNCONSCIOUS!? "Is he breathing?"

"Y-yes," said Astrid.

"Is it abnormal?" said the operator.

"Yes," said Astrid.

"Okay," said the operator. "Monitor his breathing constantly. Try not to panic."

Astrid nodded feverishly.

"Stay where you are, and try to stay calm. Help is coming," said the operator. "You can hang up now." Astrid ended the call and stared at her phone for a few seconds before shoving it back into her pocket.

Then, a thought occurred to her. She took her phone out again, and called Valka. It only rang for a few seconds before she picked up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hi, Valka," said Astrid, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She swallowed before continuing. "Y-you need to get over here...I'm at Fallout Lane, five minutes by car away from your neighborhood. Don't ask questions, just get here. Now." She hang up without another word elsewise.

When she looked back down, she saw that Hiccup's eyes were fluttering. He opened then, and blinked two or three times, staring at the girl kneeling over him.

"Astrid?" he said.

"Hiccup," she breathed. "Are you okay?"

"Got a bad headache," he admitted, "but I'm not dead, and I still have my right leg, so I guess I'm fine."  
>"I sent for an ambulance," said Astrid. "They should be here soon, and then we can get you checked out."<p>

"Fine by me," said Hiccup. "I don't feel like myself."

"It's to be expected, I think," said Astrid. "I just have one thing to say."

"What?" said Hiccup.

"You were a total _boss _with those frying pans," said Astrid.

...

The doctors found nothing severely wrong or life threatening with Hiccup. Valka had a full blown on panic attack when she heard what had happened. Astrid had shown the police her evidence for Dagur, and he had been thrown into prison for life. Valka and Astrid's mother both pressed charges against him, Valka for hurting her son, and Astrid's mother for trying to kill her daughter.

And then, one week later, Astrid finally had time to introduce Hiccup to her cousins.

Heather was a taller girl with black hair, constantly in a braid over her shoulder. Camicazi was the exact opposite, with blonde hair that didn't even look brushed, even slightly, and a wild expression that you could know meant trouble.

Heather extended her hand to Hiccup, and he shook it. Then, Camicazi grabbed his hand and shook it.

"Honor to meet you," she said. "Astrid's told me quite a bit about you over the phone, you know. What you went through was pretty impressive. Well, for a boy, anyways."

Hiccup smiled.

"Nice to meet you both," said Hiccup to Heather and Camicazi. "How long will you two be here?"

"Oh, probably another week," said Camicazi. "We're leaving on March third, so yeah, about a week. Possibly a week and a half."

"Okay, cool," said Hiccup.

"Why do you wonder?" Astrid asked.

"No reason, really," said Hiccup, but he was hiding a smile.


	22. Chapter 22

**This is my THIRD update today...and guess what? THERE IS ONLY ONE MORE CHAPTER AFTER THIS ONE LIKE WHAT IN THE WORLD!? I'm going to miss writing this story a bunch, but the sequel is going to be called "Wayward Foray". Only thing is, I don't know when I'm going to start posting it. :) But I am having a vote for which story I do next; not on my profile, but right here. Here they are, I will put results in the A/N for the next chapter; vote before I post it. :D Here they are: **

**"How Not To Meet Your Ally" - The continuing story of "How Not To Ride Your Dragon." After the death of Dagur the Deranged, life moves on for the Berkians without much of a problem. But where does that leave Berserk, and its inhabitants? Who is leading them? **

**"Snowed In" - Hiccup and the twins get trapped in an ice cave without their dragons. **

**"Blind Sight" - While building a treehouse, a terrible accident occurs that changes the life of a certain individual. To make matters worse, an unknown enemy is rising. **

**These are just three of the stories I am most intent on writing now. I have TONS of others written down that I WILL get to soon, but I need to get these ideas out of my head first so I don't rush the requested ones. Please review/PM me or whatever and tell me which one. You can vote for one, two, or all three. But please give me your votes before I post the next chapter. The one with the most votes WILL be posted, regardless of anything else. :D THANKS A TON! :D :D :D **

"Hadley!" a voice called out.

Hiccup turned from Heather and Camicazi to see Fishlegs running towards them, Meatlung hot on his heels. He stopped in front of Hiccup and panted, trying to catch his breath.

"Hey, Fishlegs, right?" said Hiccup. Fishlegs nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Astrid asked.

"I'm a journalist," said Fishlegs. "And I wanted to see if you two were interested in letting me do your story."

"Our story?" Hiccup asked. "How did you even hear about us?"

"Are you kidding?" said Fishlegs. "Don't you watch TV?"

"I don't get cable," said Hiccup.

"And I choose not to watch it," said Astrid.

"Well, you guys are famous," said Fishlegs. "On every TV miles around, 'Girl and boy stops criminal all alone.' Or 'Boy is hit by car and finds the criminal with help of girl.' You guys are everywhere, but I really wanted to do a story."

"How did you find out where we lived?" said Hiccup.

"Well," said Fishlegs, "that was kind of on the news, too."

"Well, sure," said Hiccup.

"Oh, thanks!" said Fishlegs. "What about you, Astrid?"

"I don't mind," said Astrid. "It's just a story, right?"

"Yep," said Fishlegs. He took out his notebook and a pen. "Now, I just need you two to start from the beginning."

"The beginning..." Hiccup thought. "Well, we crashed into each other. That's how it started."

And so they told him everything. Fishlegs wrote feverously, whispering about how amazing his story would be once it was finished. And so Hiccup told most of it, Astrid adding all the little things Hiccup didn't see, like what she did while he was unconscious, how everyone else reacted.

After about half an hour, Fishlegs was finally finished.

"Wow, thanks a bunch, you two," he said. "This is going to be the best story yet."

"Well, I'm glad to have been able to help you, Fishlegs," said Hiccup.

"Me too," said Astrid.

"Sorry, but could I get your number?" Hiccup asked.

"Sure," said Fishlegs. He told Hiccup his number while Hiccup punched in buttons on his phone. And then Hiccup told Fishlegs his own phone number.

"Okay, thanks," said Hiccup. "Good luck on your journal and everything."

"You too!" said Fishlegs. Then, he realized what he said. "Oh...sorry, I meant...ugh, I hate it when that happens. _Thank you_!" Then, he called to his dog, and the duo sped off again.

Camicazi and Heather stood on either side of Hiccup and Astrid, astonished and joyful smiles on their face.

"EEEEEE!" Camicazi shrieked. "You two are going to be FAMOUS!"

"Lucky," said Heather, but she was smiling.

"Whoa whoa whoa, he's a journalist," said Hiccup. "I don't think we're going to be rising to fame any time soon."

"Who cares!?" said Camicazi. "SELFE!" She leaned in, whipped out her phone, and took a picture before either Hiccup or Astrid could protest. Hiccup was slightly expecting her to do what she did, so he was able to smile in time to make it look like at least a decent picture.

Astrid, on the other hand, was a different story. She was caught in a terrible expression between a blink, look of confusion, and shout. Camicazi showed both of them the picture. Hiccup started laughing, and Astrid started shouting, "Delete it! Delete it now!"

"I'm setting it as my lock screen!" said Camicazi.

"You better not!" said Astrid.

"Guys, guys, come on, let's take a proper selfe," said Hiccup. He wrapped an arm around Astrid and held his phone out in front of him with the other hand. Camicazi and Heather moved to stand on either side of them.

"Selfe!" Hiccup shouted, and then took the photo.

He took one more for good measure, and then the others pulled away to look at it. Hiccup tapped his picture library, and then showed it to the others.

Camicazi was photobombing Heather, a goofy smile on her face. Heather looked as proper and prim as ever, while Hiccup and Astrid looked a few years younger than they really were. With the snow in the background, more flakes falling around them, that picture was probably the best one Hiccup had ever taken with him and his friends.

He reflected on the life he once had in Malaysia, where he was bullied at school, called names, pushed around, teased, and treated like dirt underneath the feet of so many different people who just hated him to the core. His old house in Malaysia, with two stories, built from brick. The day he went to his father's funeral, after he died from a heart attack.

And then he reflected on the life he had now, with friends; people who actually, genuinely cared about him, Toothless, Astrid, Ruff - who was still taking guitar lessons - and everyone else.

Losing a leg had been hard, but living in Malaysia had been even harder. Now, where he was with his new friends, everything was perfect.

Not to mention his birthday was only in a few days.


	23. Chapter 23

**THE LAST CHAPTER! YAY! **

**So, I'm going to miss writing this story, but now I'm going to write "Snowed In." The votes came back for that story, and so that one's going to be next! It will probably be short, maybe around five chapters or so, and will be in the genre "Humor." So, look out for that one! :D You can continue giving me votes for which story to write after that, because five chapters will take little to no time for me to write and get out there. So go ahead! It's "Blind Sight" against "How Not To Meet Your Ally." Have fun with this final chapter! :D **

There was a knock on Astrid's door a few days later. Camicazi and Heather were both sharing a room with her, so when they woke up to the sounds of _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_, they all stumbled down stairs at the same time, nearly knocking each other over in the process.

Astrid threw open the door and was greeted by Hiccup, his fist in mid-knock, a scarf tied around his neck. He was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt, and was carrying Toothless in his arms.

"Hi, Astrid," said Hiccup. He looked at her pajamas. "Is this a bad time?"

"Oh, no, not at all," said Astrid. "We kind of slept in."

Hiccup nodded. "Um...I wanted to tell you three that you're invited to my birthday party," he said.

"Oh sweet!" said Camicazi.

"That would be awesome," said Astrid. "When is it?"

"February twenty ninth, which is...tomorrow," said Hiccup. "Yes, tomorrow. And it starts at five o'clock in the evening."

"That sounds great," said Astrid. "We'll see if we can go. Thanks."

"You're welcome," said Hiccup.

"Who else is coming?" said Heather.

"Let's see..." said Hiccup, "Ruff and Tuff are coming, they already said that they'll be there...I invited Scott, I just don't know if he's going to come or not. And then Fishlegs."

"The journalist?" said Astrid.

Hiccup nodded. "I called and talked to him a bit," he said. "He doesn't sound like he has very many friends. I think it meant a lot to him when I invited him. He said he's coming, and call if something happens otherwise."

"That's great!" said Astrid. "So, tomorrow, at five. Right?"

"Right," said Hiccup. "So I guess I'll see you all then."

"You too," said Astrid.

He smiled, turned, and headed back to his own house. Astrid shut the door behind him, and turned to her cousins and mother, who had just entered the room.

"Sounds fun," said her mother, who had heard the conversation. "You three want to go?"

"Can we?" said Camicazi.

"Of course!" said Astrid's mother.

"Yes!" they shouted in unison, giving each other high-fives, missing half of the time for lack of effort put into them.

"This should be awesome!" said Astrid.

...

"Does this dress make me look weird?" Heather asked.

"Heather, you look fine," said Camicazi. "But you keep changing it, so I never have time to actually make a decision!"

Heather examined her black, long-sleeved dress and high heels that matched it. "So it looks okay?" she asked.

"_Yeeeeees_," Astrid and Camicazi both groaned in unison. They were getting tired of having to answer the same question over and over and over again.

"You look great, Heather," said Astrid. "You guys ready to head over?"

"Yep," said Camicazi. She was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt with pink, cursive letters on it that read "Activate Awesomeness" and an unbuttoned jean jacket over it. Her hair was in its usual mess, and no one asked her about it. It was impossible to brush, which they learned (quite unfortunately) the hard way.

Astrid was wearing a black and white striped t-shirt that was tucked under a dark brown, leather, ruffled skirt. Her hair was in its usual braid, her bangs hanging loose. She slipped on her tennis shoes, and they were ready to go.

They walked down the stairs, one at a time, Astrid, Heather, and Camicazi, in that order. They were greeted by Astrid's mother, who wished them a good time, and bid them goodbye. Then, they left the household.

It was already getting dark; Astrid really didn't like daylight savings time. It made everything seem so awkward, and strange, even. But such was life. She couldn't change it. The trio walked up to Hiccup's front door, and knocked.

Hiccup answered the door, a sideways smile on his face. Toothless meowed from the floor where he stood behind his master, sniffing Astrid, Camicazi and Heather at different rituals.

"Glad you three could make it," said Hiccup. "We haven't started yet."

He moved out of the way and invited them in.

"Happy birthday," said Astrid.

"Yeah, happy birthday," said Camicazi and Heather, almost in unison.

"Thanks, guys," said Hiccup. "You three are awesome."

...

The night went by rather quickly. Too quickly, perhaps. Once everyone else arrived, they sang, and ate cake. After that, it was pretty chilled out...

...Until Hiccup lead them all into the garage, carrying a duffle bag over his shoulder.

"What is this?" said Tuffnut. "What's in the bag?"

"Yeah, Hiccup," said Snotlout. "Don't leave us in suspense!"

"Okay, okay," said Hiccup, setting the bag down in the middle of the garage and closing the door, leaving him, Fishlegs, Astrid, Heather, Camicazi, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout boxed in. "You guys ready?"

"Yeah!" the others shouted in unison.

Hiccup unzipped it, and they gasped. Inside of it, were tons and tons of unused glowsticks, and some cans of silly string.

"We're going to have a war," said Hiccup. "Start grabbing as many glow sticks as you want. We've got tons. Two cans of silly string per person. I'll be right back." He stood and left while the others started picking and cracking their glowsticks.

Astrid put two in an X in the middle of her braid. They were green, and had a somewhat evil glow to them. Camicazi put two behind her ears, holding the other ones light lightsabers. Astrid shook a can of silly string, as did the others while they waited for Hiccup to return.

Once he did, he was carrying a small, portable boombox, and an MP3 player.

"Dubstep," said Hiccup, setting down the boombox on a milkcrate and plugging his MP3 player into it. "A fast dubstep, silly string, glowstick war."

"SWEET!" said Camicazi.

"Ooh, ooh!" Tuffnut's hand shot up. "I want to be the DJ! Can I be the DJ!?"

"Sure, Tuff," said Hiccup, stepping aside.

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!" Tuffnut shouted. As he ran over, he grabbed a huge handful of glowsticks and cracked them all. "I have an idea!" he said. "Whenever the drop comes in, I'll throw a bunch of glowsticks into the center."

"Nice!" said Snotlout. "When do we start?"

"How about right now?" said Hiccup. "Remember, there are no teams with the silly string. If you don't want to get hit...well...leave the room. No aiming for the face, and no aiming for the hair, either. Ready?" He moved towards the lightswitch after picking his silly string and glowsticks.

"Ready," the others chorused.

"Okay then!" said Hiccup. "Tuff, give us something fast."

As soon as Tuffnut started playing it, Hiccup flipped the light out. The room went dark, and all chaos broke free.

People started spraying their silly string at each other in different bouts, hitting nearly everything they fired at. There was no where to hide, since the garage was empty (their car was parked outside), so it was all run and fire.

Once the silly string was out, they started flinging their glowsticks at one another. And then it went from flinging them to fighting with them as if they were swords, even though they were tiny.

Astrid poked Hiccup in the stomach with her glowstick and shouted, "DIE!" Hiccup grabbed his stomach and fake-moaned, falling to his knees.

"You...you got me..." he gasped. Then, he stood up and laughed, flinging more glowsticks at more of his friends.

It went from war to a dance jig. Whenever the beat dropped in one of the dubstep songs Tuffnut selected, Tuffnut would throw an entire handful of glowsticks into the air so they sprinkled over the others. People laughed and danced to the music, waving their glowsticks around like patons, some people still flinging them at other people at different times.

All in all, although the night was crazy, everyone there had a blast.

There were still tons of more glowsticks left. Once people realized that, it got even more crazier. They continued dancing and flinging them at each other at different bouts. It grew crazier and crazier.

Astrid moved over to Hiccup, an entire handful of blue glowsticks in her hand.

"Thanks for inviting me," said Astrid. "This has been amazing."

"Thank you too," said Hiccup.

"For what?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup smiled. "For coming." Then, he pelted her with glowsticks.

_**THE END**_

**So I totally based that last thing with the glowsticks, silly string and dubstep off a real party I went to one time. :) So if you are wondering, that's where it came from. :D BYE!**


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